


Splitting Heirs

by Eternal_Phantom, Providentially_Demonic



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon), Tangled (2010)
Genre: AU, Arianna is a BOSS, Blood and Injury, F/M, Frederic is a dumbass, Gen, Good Parent Queen Arianna of Corona (Disney), Torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:34:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 21
Words: 130,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24456757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eternal_Phantom/pseuds/Eternal_Phantom, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Providentially_Demonic/pseuds/Providentially_Demonic
Summary: Once upon a time; Gothel stole another child. This is the story of the lost heir of a kingdom. Too bad things have a tendency to go right to hell around these parts.(the first two chapters were originally posted in my ficlet collectionIn Knotsbut as Phantom and I discussed it and started passing ideas back and forth, it grew. Expect hijinks.)Comments will keep us coming up with new and inventive ways to tormentHectorthese characters!
Relationships: Captain of Corona's Guard & Cassandra (Disney), Cassandra & Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider (Disney), Cassandra & Rapunzel (Disney: Tangled), Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider/Rapunzel
Comments: 168
Kudos: 167





	1. The Stolen Child

Quirin had known it was too late to save her by the time the nearest midwife had been summoned, nearly twenty hours into the queen's travails, and those come far too early. Queen Melisande's pregnancy had been rife with troubles from the start, the sorceress queen spending days in the company of the moonstone in order to free their kingdom of it's curse. She had not known she was pregnant at the time and once it had been confirmed, Edmund had forbidden her from venturing too near the stone's chamber. 

But the damage had been done. As her pregnancy progressed, so too did her illness. By the time she was some five months in, she had lost so much weight that her growing belly was a burden almost too much for her wasted frame. She had worked what magic she could to bolster her own health and that of her unborn child, and for a time she held steady. But as her confinement approached, her magic failed— _her_ at least. Her ever-growing belly spoke better news for the child within. But long before she should have, the queen had suffered the first pangs of birthing pains.

Some hours after the midwife had taken over the queen's chamber, chasing out all others as she labored to save the queen and heir— the old woman had emerged. Her gray eyes were solemn as she presented Edmund with his child, a boy she had cut from the dying queen's womb. Melisande had _not_ survived his birth.

Edmund had barely had enough presence of mind to pass the boy off to Quirin before going prostrate with grief. Quirin had confirmed that like the line of dark kings before him, the babe bore the birthmark of their lineage, a three point crown— in front of the priests, before taking the wee baby to find a wet-nurse to sustain him.

The grieving king had been plied with strong drink and carried off to his bed to weep himself into exhausted slumber, while the priests took the task of announcing the birth of the heir to the kingdom, leaving the midwife to clean and prepare the queen's body for the men who would lay her out for her final rest. It would not do for them to see what had needed done to save the heir.

It was well into the hour of the wolf when the old midwife left the castle and the washed and dressed body of the queen behind. She carried her bag of simples, though none of them had been able to save Melisande, and tucked inside the heavy canvas rucksack, one tiny, precious secret, wrapped in a soft blanket, with the mark of the dark kings high on one pale little hip.

~

She waited. She had centuries of experience at that. She had spent much time planning and plotting, as natural to her as breathing. She— in a time _long_ past— had been promised a throne by her master. Beauty she had, and kept as long as she served willingly. Her one act of defiance had cost her dearly and after that she had been the most devoted of servants, to keep her beauty and the promises of wealth and power. Magic she had, but power, _power—_ power was only in the hands of royalty.

Then, things had fallen apart. Her master— gone— and with them all her beauty, and all the things promised her were dust in the wind. But she had forgotten none of her teachings— and had found a way to gain back the beauty and youth stolen from her. But power— _that_ she had none of.

But there were ways. Ways to gain what she desired. A little careful planning, and she had a way. A small kingdom, and with it her chance to have the power that even her master had coveted. More the fool them, for in her quiet and subtle way, she already had half what brute force had not won.

And now, sleeping in her arms, she had the key to the other half. Edmund— drunk on grief or not— would not recognize in her the midwife who had cut his heir out of the womb of the dying queen. And neither would any of the others who had seen her that night. Nor would any who had seen an old woman in the kitchen the night before, preparing a posset for the queen. A posset laced with herbs that would bring on labor early, before any of the usual midwives or witnesses could be summoned.

She had gone long between visits to her secret, the source of her youth and beauty, so that it had been a wizened old woman who had come to aid the birth, but now she was in the prime of life again, young and lovely. And she need only arrange a little more and wait for the pieces to fall where they would.

And when tragedy befell the grieving king and his little heir, well, she would come in with a true born heir with the mark of the dark kings there for all to see. And it was a genuine one, that the priests— keepers of the spell that bound the mark to bloodline— could not disprove.

Laughing, she cradled the baby to her breast. "Yes, Mommy will have all she ever wanted and more, right, my little one—? Everything she _ever_ wanted."

At last, it was all falling into place, and Gothel couldn't be more pleased.

~

Gothel woke in the middle of the night, feeling as if the cottage were shaking itself apart around her, but the night was quiet, with crickets chirring in the grass outside and everything undisturbed. In the bassinet, the child was whimpering and squirming in fitful sleep but had not yet broken into the ear-splitting wails they were prone to. Absently, Gothel rose, nudging the bassinet with a foot to start it rocking.

What had woken her?

She could see nothing that might have been cause for her disturbance, but she had not lived as long as she had by taking things for granted. She was about to open the door when it felt like the world dropped out from under her feet. She staggered, gripping the doorframe to keep from falling to the ground. _What—?_

She— the currents of magic around her— they writhed, as if something had disturbed a great beast from its slumber. Stumbling back to her feet, she wavered to the table where her scrying mirror sat. What had happened?

Her hands were shaking as she reached for the mirror, and she saw an age spot visible on one of them. She made an absent note to visit her Sundrop flower soon, even as she called on the magic of the mirror. The black glass clouded and color swirled across it, disturbed by the massive upheaval in the magic. Angrily, she focused her concentration on it. She would not be thwarted.

Far too slowly, the mirror began to clear. At first she thought it was fading back to its default black, but there was a small smudge of gray. She squinted at it and bent more magic on the mirror.

Was that a castle wall? 

Finally, it cleared and she caught her breath. What? How had—? Her concentration dissolved with her confusion and the damning image faded to black. Black rocks—? The moonstone— someone had tampered with the moonstone!

Gasping, she leaned against the table, arms trembling. That fool, Edmund— what had he done in his grief? _What had he done!?_

It took too long to calm herself to the point that she could reliably make the scrying mirror work and what she saw infuriated her. She watched until she could bear it no longer. What had that fool done? A kingdom in ruin, people fleeing under his orders. A kingdom of death, now! 

All her hard work— all her plans— Ashes on the wind once again! Rage bubbled up in her breast and she screamed, swiping the mirror off the table with fury. It landed with a thud on the soft carpet and did nothing to assuage the paroxysm of absolute fury clouding her senses.

 _"That wretched fool!_ All my preparations, ruined! _Ruined!"_ Gothel hurled a chest of vials against the wall of the cottage, taking a vicarious pleasure in watching the bottles explode on impact. _"Months_ of work, gone!"

The tiny, frightened wail froze the woman where she stood. She turned to see the little infant struggling in the bassinet, frightened by Gothel's screams of thwarted rage and her wanton destruction. _Useless now. Utterly useless._

Rage colored her vision and for a moment she stood over the cradle, fingers crooked into claws, staring down at the tiny, helpless thing wailing there. The babe was useless to her now, a burden she did now want or need. For one fateful moment, she lowered her hand, feeling the pulse of life beneath her fingers, so _so_ easy to simply snuff out. The wolf holding the prey's life in its jaws, ready to bite down.

Then the beast released its hold, her fingers relaxing. _No_. Perhaps the child could still be of use. Gothel lifted the baby. "Shush, Cassandra, you useless lump," she crooned sweetly, bouncing the babe against her breast. "Mommy will just have to find another use for you, wretch."


	2. The Reveal

"You're lucky Fidella knows her way back home, especially with you unconscious in the saddle!" Rapunzel scolded softly, Cass's fingers tightening on hers as the needle pulled torn flesh together again. "What happened?"

Cass resisted the urge to curse at the physician as the needle stabbed into her thigh again. Even with the numbing effects of the potion he’d dumped on it, she could still feel every stitch. "Bandits," she answered through gritted teeth. "They were ambushing caravans on the trade road close to Sweetwater. I set up an ambush for them." Her grin was feral. "They never knew what hit them. The ones who survived are in a cell at Pitchford, awaiting the king's justice."

"That will do it," the wizened doctor said, washing blood from the wound and binding linen bandages around her thigh. "Keep it clean and don't do anything to pull the stitches. Come back in a week and we'll see if it's ready for me to take them out. Stay here for the night because once that dose of poppy extract you drank hits, you won’t be in any condition to walk."

"Thanks," Cass hissed.

The physician took himself out of the infirmary while Rapunzel busied herself getting a bottle of bruise salve down and treating the rest of Cass's injuries.

Cass relaxed under her hands as the salve eased the pain. She was already feeling a little woozy. "Thanks, Raps, but you don't have to look after me. A princess doesn't need to—”

"Finish that and I'll whack you. A princess does for her friends."

Cass sighed but let Rapunzel do as she wanted. Rapunzel's hand stilled high on her hip where she had taken a shield bash. "Huh. That's funny."

"What is?"

Gentle fingers traced on her skin light enough to tickle. "You have a birthmark here. It... it looks just like the one Eugene has here." She prodded the top of Cass's rear on the left.

"I did not need to know that, Raps." Cass made a face. The world tilted a little and Rapunzel helped her settle down.

Cass was nearly asleep as Rapunzel murmured. "It's funny. I've never seen nearly identical birthmarks before."

~

"She's fine. Lost a lot of blood and got a bit battered, but she's stitched up and resting in the infirmary. We can go see her tomorrow." Rapunzel rested her head in Eugene's lap while he was reading some papers in bed.

"Don't ever tell anyone else I said this, but it'll be good to see her. It's been what— over a year since her last visit?" Eugene dropped a hand to stroke Rapunzel's hair.

"Almost a year." Rapunzel replied drowsily, leaning into the petting like a cat. "She was here for my birthday last year. And my birthday is in a few weeks, so just under a year." She turned and wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her nose in his stomach. "Put out the lamp and let's go to bed."

"One minute, Sunshine. I have to get this schedule finalized. Then I'm all yours." 

Rapunzel giggled softly. "You're all mine anyway." She slipped her hands under his shirt, seeking warmth. Her fingers traced idle patterns on his lower back. She giggled sleepily. "It's funny, you know. Cass has a birthmark just like yours." She poked the mark in question, it's location long since committed to memory. "Same shape too."

Eugene stiffened in her arms. "Say that again?"

Rapunzel yipped as he husband abruptly got up, tumbling her out of his lap. "Wha—?"

"Sunshine, please repeat what you just said." His tone was unusually solemn.

"Uhm— Cass has a birthmark just like yours? Close to the same spot, but more on her hip."

"You said it was the same shape?"

Rapunzel frowned and folded her arms. "I said that already. It's just like yours, it looks just like a little crown."

Eugene dragged a hand down his face. "You have got to be fucking kidding me."

"Eugene! Language!" Rapunzel scolded.

"To hell with my language, Sunshine. We need to go down to the infirmary,  _ now." _ Eugene grabbed her wrist, tugging her out of bed and heading for the door at a pace she was hard pressed to keep up with.

"Eugene, she's already sleeping! Which is what we should be doing! What's going on?"

"I have to see this for myself before I can answer that question," Eugene said grimly.

"You can't!" Rapunzel yelped. "It's— it's not in a place you should be looking!"

"Just make sure she has some smallclothes on, Sunshine, because I  _ have _ to."

Eugene burst through the infirmary door and then had to duck as a ewer hit the doorframe right where his head had been, shattering. 

Wild-eyed, Cass was sitting up in the bed, one hand holding the sheets up to her chest and the other still in the air from her throw. "What the hell, Fitzherbert!?"

"That's what I'd like to know," Rapunzel fumed, pulling her hand free of Eugene's and folding her bare arms across her chest. Even clad only in a thin blue nightgown, her fury was enough to make her an intimidating figure. "Eugene, you need to start explaining now!"

Brushing shards of the ceramic off his nightshirt, Eugene turned to his wife. "Sunshine, I have to see first. I promise I'll explain after that. I need to know."

"Know what?" Cass hissed. She was in pain, tired to the bone and had been woken out of a drugged sleep by Eugene's precipitous entrance.

Eugene, looking a bit wild-eyed himself, said, "Forgive me, Cass," and lunged for the bed, yanking the sheet away from the wounded woman.

Cass, red in the face, yelped and decked Eugene right in the jaw with every ounce of her strength.

Eugene went down on his rear with a thump, pulling the sheet completely off of Cass. 

Cass shrieked and tried to cover her mostly naked lower half with both hands.  _ "WHAT THE **FUCK,** FITZHERBERT?!" _

Rapunzel, rightfully indignant on her friend's behalf, grabbed another sheet from an empty cot and swaddled a seething Cassandra in it, glaring daggers at her husband.  _ "Eugene!" _ her expression could have curdled milk.

"Give me my dagger, Raps," Cassandra fumed, incensed. "You don't need him with all of his body parts still attached."

Eugene, rubbing a very sore jaw, rose to his feet. "Cass— please, I need to see that birthmark. I promise I— I'll try to explain everything after that."

"How about you start with the explanation before I carve you into cutlets?" Cass seethed, only Rapunzel's comforting hold keeping her from going for Eugene, wounded or not.

"Eugene," Rapunzel's voice was cold enough to cut. "You need to explain first. That is an order."

Eugene flinched, shaken out of his frantic state by the ice in his wife's tone. "Sunshine—” he tried.

"Start. Talking." She bit each word off like it had personally offended her. "Now."

Eugene looked away, unable to stand against the wrath in his wife's eyes.

Cass had stopped trying to rise and merely watched Rapunzel out of the corner of her eye. She had never seen her this furious.

Eugene sagged down on the infirmary bed across from the one Cass occupied. He put his head in his hands and sighed heavily. "Well, Sunshine, you remember— when we were in the dark Kingdom— and Edmund— well, he told me—" he seemed to be struggling to find words. "Told me—"

"That you were his son," Cass added sharply, irritated by his dithering. "Point?"

He didn't look up. "I— a part of me wanted to believe him, but I've been lied to before, lied to and used. I— I asked him to prove it to me. How could he know I was his son when he'd only just met me?"

He paused and stared at the wall for a long moment. When the silence had stretched to the point of breaking Cass's formidable temper, she snapped. "For once, Fitzherbert,  _ talk more." _

Eugene sagged even further. "He told me that there was incontrovertible proof on my skin, that I was an heir to the Dark Kingdom."

Cass was the first to parse it out. Her look went from furious to disbelieving before metamorphosing into amusement. She let out a bark of laughter. "You're kidding. You think somehow because I have a birthmark I'm— no way, Fitzherbert. I'm no illegitimate heir to the dark kingdom. You're out of your tiny little mind!"

Eugene didn't look up. "He told me that the first king, Sorcerer king Bernhard, created the spell to assure there could be no pretenders to the throne. Only a true-born heir would bear the mark. Edmund showed me his, to prove it." He blinked and clenching his hands into fists, looked up to meet her eyes. "That's why I need you to let me see it."

Cass scoffed, pulling the sheet tighter around herself. "You think I— no. You are out of your damned mind."

"Cass—" Rapunzel's voice was soft and soothing, her mediator tone. "Maybe we should let him see, set both of you at ease. If he's wrong, we'll all have a good laugh."

"And if I'm right—?"

"This is ridiculous," Cass's hands went white-knuckled on the sheet. "How could I be—?" She snorted and shook her head. "You told us that your mother died giving birth to you. I'm younger than you, so how could that be—? Did Edmund get remarried or something?"

She was bristling again, but a gentle hand on her shoulder stopped her. "Cass, please. Your dad— he said, he thought you were maybe four when he found you, but that you were small and too thin, and you didn’t know your age. So you could be—"

"Older? Raps, this is ridiculous. Your husband has lost his mind."

"Then let him see and we can all laugh this off. Please, Cass."

"Oh, for the sake of my sanity—" Cass scowled but let the sheet slide off her shoulders, pooling it over her legs. Painfully she shifted so that the wounded leg (where this supposed birthmark was) was tilted up. "Get it over with. And if you touch me, Fitzherbert, you'll be eating your teeth."

Rapunzel carefully arranged the sheet to cover her, leaving only the hip with the mark bared. "Eugene—?" She said carefully.

Slowly, Eugene shuffled over to the bed, looking down at the dark mark branding Cassandra's pale as milk skin.

He sat down, forgetting there was nothing under him, landing on his rump on the floor. "Fuck."

"Eugene?" Rapunzel asked softly while Cass turned to peer down at him.

"They— they're identical." Eugene said hollowly. He lifted shocked eyes up to Cassandra's. "Hi, princess."

Cassandra flopped bonelessly back on the cot. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” There was no anger in her voice now, just a bone-deep weariness.

“I wish I were.” Eugene buried his face in his hands. “I— I need to send a message to my dad, Sunshine. He needs to know this.”

Cass turned to glare down at him. “Don’t you fucking dare—” she hissed. “I don’t care what some stupid birthmark means.”

She turned her gaze up to Rapunzel, who was grinning. “What are you smiling about, Raps?”  
  
Rapunzel’s smile widened. “You’re a princess too, Cass! We can be princess pals together!”  
  
Cass groaned. “Raps, I adore you, but there is no way in hell I am a princess. And for pity’s sake, never say princess pals ever, _ever_ again.”


	3. Guess who's coming to dinner?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (This is where the new content begins)

Just under a week later, a letter arrived, tied to Hamuel, who announced his presence by crashing into the wall of Rapunzel's bedroom and then flopping around on the floor like a dying fish, shedding feathers and cawing. When she could get the letter off the raven, Rapunzel read it before turning to point an accusing finger at her husband. "I thought you promised Cass that you were not to contact your dad?"

Eugene looked momentarily confused before taking the letter from her. "I didn't. I haven't sent him a letter since one of Hector's pet whatever-the-heck-they-are chewed on the last pigeon I sent. That was like two months ago."

"Then why is he asking to have a hot air balloon sent to get him?"

Eugene read over the letter, his eyes growing wider. He slumped down on the edge of the bed.

“Oh, hell...” Suddenly guilt filled Eugene's expression. "I— may have mentioned finding another heir to the Dark Kingdom when I was talking to your dad, Sunshine. It was after that state dinner that went on for  _ hours _ and I may have had a little too much wine to make it more bearable."

"Cass is going to kill you."

“Yep,” Eugene acknowledged mournfully. 

“You know we have to tell her he found out,  _ before _ he actually arrives—” Rapunzel said, setting Hamuel back on his feet. The bird promptly wandered over to the wall and bonked his beak into it. “Your father— isn’t the most _ tactful _ of people.”

“Sunshine, he and tact parted ways long before I was born. Cass is going to murder him if she finds out via one of his bearhugs.”   
  
Rapunzel shuddered, imagining the carnage. “We’d— better go tell her.”   
  
“Do we have to?”   
  
“Eugene—”   
  
“She’s gonna deck me again. My face can’t take more of her brutality and still retain it’s natural beauty.”   
  
“If she kills Edmund, you’ll be the king of the Dark Kingdom, you know?”   
  
A full-body shiver went down Eugene’s spine. “Hell—”   
  
“I’ll talk to her. She’s—  _ less likely _ — to kill me. You— you take the request to my dad.”   
  
“Can I just not?” The paper in Eugene’s hands crumpled as his hands tightened.   
  
“He’ll just come anyway. Do you really want the explosion if he gets here four months down the road and she finds out he knows  _ then?” _ Rapunzel chided.   
  
“Zhan Tiri will have been a cakewalk compared to that.” Eugene said mournfully.   
  
“Yes.” Rapunzel leaned over to kiss his cheek. “Go talk to my dad.”   
  
“I hate my life.”   
  
Rapunzel patted his shoulder, before leaning down to scratch Hamuel’s head with a finger. “You wait here to take a note back home, okay?”   
  
“Quork!” the raven agreed, flopping over on his back with both wings outspread.

“There is  _ no way _ this can end well.” Eugene protested, but did as told.

He was still with the king, actually, when wrath given human form descended on the throne room. Cass was seething, completely oblivious to the princess trying to calm her down. Thankfully she wasn’t carrying a weapon, or there might have been a massacre in the throne room.  **_“FITZHERBERT!”_ **

Eugene squeaked and hoped for a hole to open up in the floor and swallow him. “Hey— Cassandra. I see Sunshine found you—?” His voice lilted up as she stormed straight for him. “Uhm, you’ll tear open your injuries again if you keep stomping around like that.”   
  
“My injuries are going to be the least of your worries!” She latched onto the front of his vest and shook him so hard his teeth rattled. “You— You told! You told me you weren’t going to tell anyone, least of all that lunatic!” Her voice had scaled up to a furious scream.

“Actually— I’m the one who informed King Edmund, Cassandra.” King Frederic said calmly. “Please refrain from attempting to shake the Prince-Consort to death in my throne room, if you would.”

"Or anywhere else. Please." Eugene pled.

Cass froze, turning her head to fix the seated monarch with her gimlet glare. Releasing Eugene, she seethed silently for a moment before she could seem to find words. “...This is revenge, isn't it? Revenge for invading your kingdom with the black rocks and attacking your daughter.”

“Cass!” Rapunzel exclaimed, horrified.

King Frederic only smiled. “Of course not. Despite what you might think of me, I prefer peaceful solutions— and relations with my fellow kingdoms. Imagine how well Edmund will take it, if we return a missing heir to him—?” His expression was benevolence incarnate.

Cassandra gaped for a long moment. Then she screamed, a sound of absolute rage.   
  
“Was that really necessary, my love?” Arianna asked disapprovingly.

“Absolutely.” Frederic’s smile was a little too full of suppressed glee.

Cassandra let go of Eugene, dropping him on his rump on the throne room floor. Her glare boded no good for anyone who got in her way as she performed the most perfunctory bow ever at the two royals and stalked out, rage hanging over her shoulders like a stormcloud. With a last worried glance at Eugene, Rapunzel chased after Cass.

Eugene didn’t even bother rising from the floor. “She’s gonna kill me later,” he said mournfully.

“I think you are exaggerating, son,” Frederic replied.

“No.” Eugene shook his head before pushing himself to his feet. “No, I’m really not.” His tone was too flat. “Your Majesties.” His bow was proper, unlike Cass’s, but it was so stiff it looked painful.

Arianna glanced over at her husband. “That went well.” The sarcasm practically dripped from her words.

“I thought so.”

“Dearest, I love you, but that was not one of your wisest ideas.”

“Nonsense. I think it went marvelously.”

Arianna rose from her throne and looked down her nose at her husband. “If by marvelously, you mean headed on a crash course for a diplomatic incident of epic proportions, then yes.” She turned her back on him and strode away, the line of her back stiff.

“Dearest, don’t you think you are exaggerating things a bit much?” Frederic called after her retreating figure.

“No. No, I _really_ do not. And I hope you are prepared for the results, because they will  _ not _ be pretty.” Arianna tossed back over her shoulder. She brushed past the guards, pausing only to ask which way Eugene had gone. 

Time to see if she could provide some disaster control before this all went spectacularly pear-shaped.

She understood, really she did— where Frederic was coming from but sometimes, for all his virtues, he was still a man, with flaws that could be his undoing if he wasn’t careful. Or if she wasn’t careful  _ for _ him. He was taking great pleasure in his subtle revenge on Cassandra, who— though she had thoroughly earned her forgiveness— had still done unconscionable things.

Frederic might have forgiven, but he did not forget.

~ 

After calming Cass— if one could consider arming her and setting her loose on a training course,  _ calm _ — Rapunzel went looking for Eugene. 

Her father, with a smile that seemed odd to her, said he was having the balloon prepped to head to the Dark Kingdom, as per Eugene’s request, but he hadn’t seen him since earlier. Her mother was nowhere to be found and that worried her even more. What on earth had happened after she had left the throne room?

She finally found Eugene hiding in the library. He was perched up on the top of a bookcase, looking for all the world like he was hiding  _ from _ the world at large. “Eugene?”

“Hi, Sunshine.” He gave her a smile, but even she recognized it as his Flynn Rider grin, the one that hid whatever he was thinking, His eyes gave it away, shuttered tight, with none of the life in them that she adored.

She was quick to scramble up a ladder and perch right next to him. She slid her arm around his waist. “What’s wrong?”

“Everything.” he said flatly.

Rapunzel leaned into Eugene. "Everything?" She repeated softly. "Tell me."

Eugene heaved a sigh. "Where do I even start? Cass— who may or may not be related to me in some way, shape or form, and isn’t that grand?— wants my head on a pike for everything from starting this thing to letting it slip so that Edmund is coming here, and that’s a whole other kettle of fish that I don’t even want to think about. Your dad— he could care less that she wants me dead— because he's taking great delight in being able to discomfit her." He buried his head in his hands. "Life was a hell of a lot less complicated when I was just a thief."

Rapunzel turned so she could wrap both arms around his waist. “Oh, Eugene—”

“Sorry, Sunshine—” He leaned his head against hers, his breath warm on her scalp. “It’s been a pretty bad day— hell, a pretty bad week, if I’m honest.”

She said nothing, only held him tighter, feeling him slowly melt into her embrace. Below her she felt more than saw the library door open and her mother stick her head in. Silently, she caught her mother’s eye and held a finger to her lips. Below, Arianna smiled softly, and withdrew, leaving her daughter and husband to their comfort. 

Rapunzel pressed a kiss to Eugene’s temple and just held him close. She ached for him— for the person he had thought he was, for the revelations that had brought his world crashing down around him, not once, but twice. She wanted to wrap him up in her arms and keep him safe from all the hurts.

~

Arianna heaved a heavy sigh as she left the library. At least Rapunzel had Eugene well in hand. However, that left an infuriated Cassandra at loose ends. Perhaps she had better see about the girl before she did something rasher than usual.

Arianna found out from one of the guards where Cassandra currently was, destroying a training field, and headed for the stables where she had Max and Fidella saddled up. It didn't take her long to figure out which training field. All she had to do was follow the sounds of wanton destruction.

She reigned Max up just outside, watching Cassandra laying waste to a training dummy. The poor canvas figure was rent and slashed so badly that most of its sand filling had spilled out onto the grass.

Arianna interrupted the destruction, mid-slash. "Cassandra. Ride with me."

Panting and more than a bit wild-eyed, Cassandra ground to a halt and slewed around to face her. It took a moment for her to lose the maddened look, but after a moment, she sheathed her sword and performed a perfunctory bow. "Your Majesty." 

Arianna passed Fidella's reins to her. "Arianna, Cassandra. No need to stand on ceremony if we're going to be contemporaries."

Cassandra looked like she had bitten into a lemon as she swung up into the saddle. "You don't believe I'm royalty any more than I do, your Majesty."

"Arianna," Arianna corrected with a gentle smile. "And whether or not you are convinced, my husband and Eugene seem quite certain."

Cassandra groaned, slumping over the pommel. "I'd like to wake up now."

Arianna reached over and patted her shoulder. "Come, dear. Ride with me for a bit and clear your head."

Cassandra muttered something under her breath but obediently reined Fidella into a canter beside Max. She kept her head down and her eyes averted, Arianna noted. Her shoulders were bunched tight with tension.

"While I admit things could have been handled better, why are you so adamant that you cannot be royalty?" Arianna probed carefully.

If anything, Cass's shoulders just got tighter. "Your Maje— Arian— no, I'm sorry, I can't..." Cassandra shook her head. "Your Majesty, you know me. You've known me since I was a little girl— or really, a guard's adopted brat, running around underfoot and causing him— and you— no end of trouble. It really shouldn't have come as a surprise that Gothel was my mother, but now— how can I be royalty? There's no way to make a princess out of a guardsman's brat."

Cassandra looked up in shock at Arianna's peal of laughter. Still chuckling, Arianna turned herself sideways in the saddle to face her. "As if growing up alone in a tower is some sort of template for being a princess? You were more prepared to be a princess simply by being here in the palace and being into everything as a child than my daughter, why do you think we assigned you as her Lady-in-Waiting? You taught her more about being a princess than her tutors could." 

A red flush crept up Cassandra's cheeks. "Still couldn't get her to wear shoes," she admitted with a chuckle that Arianna was delighted to hear.

"I am afraid my daughter will be the 'barefoot princess' until the day she becomes the 'barefoot queen'." Arianna laughed. 


	4. Plots within Plots

Arianna had created a fragile peace, mostly by keeping the combatants as far away from each other as she could contrive to. She hated keeping Eugene away from his wife as much as she was, but far better for him to be busy out in the city than drawing Cassandra’s uncertain temper. Cassandra was best close to Rapunzel, who could always soothe her. Arianna had found an assortment of projects to engage her daughter and keep her away from most court functions, and thus away from Frederic, who unfortunately was feeling smug, and thus grating on Cassandra’s already frayed nerves. Fortunately, recalling Cassandra’s father to duty as an advisor for Eugene had also acted as a balm. He was wonderful at helping her keep up the delicate peace.

It was a delicate balancing act and Arianna was fortunately good at juggling. Sometimes, though, she wondered what she had done to deserve this. 

She was just grateful that for the moment she could keep things from going spectacularly wrong. Even if it kept her running, it was far better than the alternatives.

~

After a meeting with Eugene and his now-advisor, the former captain of the guard, Frederic was pleased when the former captain lingered after the meeting. They had not spoken much since— well, since the thought of fighting his own daughter had made him surrender his post— but to Frederic he had always been a voice of reason, and very close to a friend. He had been at the position for nearly twenty-five years, taking it over shortly after his predecessor had been quit of the position in self-imposed disgrace a few short months after Rapunzel’s disappearance. 

“A word, Your Majesty?” he asked diffedently, his brown eyes stormy with some unnamed emotion.

Frederic decided that he could change the rules a little, After all, he was no longer directly in Frederic’s command. “Frederic, old friend. I feel like I could use a friend.”

“If you still feel that way after what I have to say now, Your Majesty, I might take you up on that offer.”

Frederic’s heart sank. “Oh, dear—”

The former captain of the guard shut the door to the meeting room and pulled a flask from a vest pocket, pouring a measure in Frederic’s goblet and one into his own more humble mug. Frederic caught the strong tang of bourbon as he recapped the flask before taking a long draught from his cup. 

Frederic picked up his own goblet and swirled the drink inside it with a woeful expression. “I fear if you think this requires strong drink, I won’t like where this is going at all.”

“You might say that, Your Majesty,” was the somber response. “My daughter— she has always been, shall we say, strongly-minded— about things that upset her.” His eyes went distant. “I won’t repeat the language that she used the first time she came to me after your decree she was going to a convent for her part in Rapunzel’s escapades. It frightened me when she went quiet about it. I should have seen then how close she had become to your daughter.”

Frederic nodded slowly. Rapunzel had pled with him after Cassandra’s return from the jaws of death, swearing that Cassandra had always been her closest friend, and her anger, though fed by Zhan Tiri’s manipulation, had been justifiable. Among the impassioned pleas had been their own treatment of the girl, who had longed for nothing so much as to be a warrior like her father.  _ “She wasn’t suited to be my Lady-in-Waiting, the role was a prison for her. I think— I think if she and I actually hadn’t finally become such close friends, she would have fled years ago.” _

“And now she is ‘strongly-minded’ about—?”

Cap snorted into his cup. “Sire, you’re no fool. Cassandra went past that when she threatened Eugene in your  _ own throne room _ a few days ago, Your Majesty. She— she’s told me what happened, you know, which is why I agreed to Queen Arianna’s proposal to reinstate me as an advisor to the guard. She— she is only still finding her way, and she sees outing that mark as a betrayal, and Eugene— who is honestly one of the few people she trusts— as the betrayer. My daughter— she’s not handling the situation well. Atop all the recent incidents in her life, it is too much and she’s not taking it very well, at all.” He took another drink from his mug. “I admit, I am not either. I— I lost her once and I am terrified of losing her again— this time to a kingdom that I know is—  _ not _ in a good place. I haven’t always been the best parent, but I love her more than my own life, and while I am torn about this...”

He set down his mug and looked Frederic straight in the eyes. “Your Majesty, her own distress and anger— it's escalating as the arrival of King Edmund draws nearer and I’m afraid, this isn't  _ just _ talk any longer. If given half the chance she is going to hurt him."  _ Or kill him, _ The words hung heavy in the air, unsaid, but definitely not unheard. 

“The cost of that anger would be too high, too high for any of us to bear.” So many unsaid thoughts filled the air between them.  _ If Cassandra finally did snap and lose that formidable temper all over the place... the loss of her husband would destroy Rapunzel, even more so for  _ **_who_ ** _ had done the deed. There was no way Cassandra would be able to escape punishment— and the cost of murdering the Prince-Consort— Death would be too kind.  _

Frederic realized control had long since slipped out of his fingers and if he didn’t do something to fix it, he might have worse than a war on his hands. He drained his goblet, the burn of the alcohol a reminder of just how badly things had gone awry. “What do you suggest, my friend?”

The former guard’s eyes brightened at the appellation, but he quietly shook his head. “It’s not my place to offer suggestions, sire. I have been conspiring with the queen to keep Cassandra away from Eugene as much as possible, but we will not be able to once King Edmund and his entourage arrive.” He looked away. “To be honest, sire, I’m not sure how I feel about this claim that she is a heir to the dark kingdom.” His laugh was rueful. “I only just got her back.”

Frederic gave a slow nod, remembering how he had felt when he’d gotten Rapunzel back, only to fear losing her again with the escapades she got into. “I’ll think of something to calm her down. We can’t both keep losing our daughters.”

Cap’s features relaxed and he let out a short laugh. Frederic raised his glass and obligingly, Cap refilled both of their drinks.

~

Arianna gritted her teeth as Friedborg passed her the note from Frederic. He was still trying to drive her to distraction, she knew it. She unfolded the note and read the three lines of her husband’s neat script. _“Dearest, I may have something to rectify the tensions that I fear I have caused and will make an announcement of it at dinner this evening. Will you please make sure that Cassandra and Eugene attend, as I am aware of your attempts to settle things down. It is my hope that this will work.”_ It was signed with a large looping ‘F,’ the way he only did in personal notes to her.

Arianna rubbed her temples “Frederic, my love, what are you getting up to now?” 

She had a feeling this would not go well. And it would be up to her to provide damage control. Fun. 

Later that evening, she was sure she had done something far worse than Cassandra had ever done as she stared aghast at her husband, who had stood with a beneficent smile at the table full of nobility. She  _ knew it.  _ She knew she should have gone directly to him to find out what he was planning instead of letting him have his way. He had a copy of Herz Der Sonne’s journal in hand and that should have been her first sign something was going to go terribly wrong. “In times past it was this kingdom’s tradition to appoint a protector, an “Heir’s Knight,” who would go everywhere with their sworn liege. The title was forgotten in times past, but it has been brought to my attention that my daughter had just such a protector, even though they were never officially knighted and acknowledged as they should have been. In order to right this grievous oversight, the day after tomorrow, we invite you all to the investment of Lady Cassandra to the position of Princess’s Knight, a position she has dutifully fulfilled, even without the title or accolades.”

Cassandra, seated further down the table, with her father, had dropped her goblet, eyes wide and surprised. A flush started on her cheeks as polite applause followed Frederic’s pronouncement, and grew deeper as he gestured at her. It took the urging of her father, though he looked almost as stunned, for her to stand and curtsy to the king.

Rapunzel clapped delightedly, while beside her Eugene looked like a man who was staring his own death in the face, pale and ill.

Rapunzel rose to dart down the table and clasp Cass’s hands, her smile shining as brightly as if she still carried the magic of the Sundrop in her veins. “Oh, Cass!”

Cassandra looked more shaken than happy, but she willingly let Rapunzel hug her.

Arianna rose from her seat to go to Eugene, laying a gentle hand on his shoulder. His eyes were haunted as he looked up at her. “He wants me dead, doesn’t he?” he whispered.

Heart breaking, Arianna bent and pressed a kiss to his temple. “I promise you he doesn’t.” She brushed hair out of his face. “I’ll fix this, dear. I swear.”

She didn’t say aloud that she wasn’t sure how. But she would fix it. For the sake of everyone she cared for.

Rapunzel had paused long enough in her excited chatter for Arianna to catch her eye and nod down at her daughter's thoroughly shaken husband. She could see the realization hit her like a shock of icy water. Rapunzel stumbled over her next few words but recouped quickly, promising that tomorrow they would spend the day getting ready for the ceremony, including a entirely new outfit and designing a new coat of arms for Cass's new title, plus a stop at the armory for new weaponry and  _ of course _ she would need armor... all the while subtly steering Cass out of the dining hall.

As Arianna had known she would, when faced with Rapunzel's enthusiastic chatter, Cassandra had quickly begged off anything else tonight, fleeing for the sanctity and  _ quiet _ of her room. As swiftly as she was gone, Rapunzel headed back to take her husband in hand.

After a hasty exchange of whispers, which Arianna politely pretended not to hear, Rapunzel's face crumpled in concerned dismay and she swiftly excused them both, sliding a supporting arm around Eugene's waist as they exited the hall. He leaned his head down on hers, talking quietly.

Arianna hated how defeated he looked. 

She glanced back at Frederic, smiling widely as he spoke with his guests. With a long sigh, she left him to it. She needed air. And time to think of a way to salvage this mess. Even if it took her all night.

~

After a mostly sleepless night holed up in her old hiding place from when she had first come to the kingdom, a secret room above the library, Arianna emerged to wash her face and hope she could stop the coming storm.

She took a deep breath and went to go beard the dragon in his den. In this case, Frederic's private study. She pushed the door open without bothering to knock. She was too emotionally exhausted for social niceties. “A word with you, my darling husband.”

Frederic missed the silken menace in Arianna’s tone. “In a moment, my love.” He continued his plans with Nigel over tomorrow’s hasty event. 

Arianna gritted her teeth, _ Fine _ . Her hand shot out and caught Frederic’s ear in a pinch-hold. “Now, husband.”

Frederic yelped and hastily waved Nigel out with a “We’ll continue this later.”

As soon as the door had closed behind Nigel, Arianna rounded on her husband. “What on earth are you doing?” she seethed.

He glanced down at the papers spread over his desk. “Planning for Cassandra’s investment tomorrow?”

“Oh—” Arianna shoved the papers to one side and heedless of getting her dress dirty or propriety, planted herself in the cleared space, hiking her skirts up so she could sit with her legs folded crisscross. “So you want to play obtuse, dearheart? Fine— let me explain it to you. And I’ll use small words.”

“Arianna—”

Arianna heaved a sigh and yanked the crown off her husband’s head, plopping it in her lap. “For the next five minutes, you are not the king. So zip your lips and listen to your queen. Got it?” He opened his mouth to protest. Arianna leaned in with a venomous smile. “Got it?”

Frederic closed his mouth and nodded.

“Good.” Arianna stared down at him until he shrank a little in his seat. “I’m glad you have realized that your little game of one-upmanship with Cassandra has gone a little far, but at the moment, the worst possible thing you could do would be to place her in that position.”

“It’s a peace off—”

She cut him off with a finger to his lips. “I’m still talking.” She leaned in again. “Now listen to me. Perhaps you didn’t understand how very,  _ very _ angry she is right now. She had gone beyond joking. She is only just now finding her feet and her place again after that incident, and in one moment, the rug has been ripped out from under her feet again. She is angry and floundering and right now, Eugene is the target of that ire. As I am sure the good former captain of your guard informed you when I brought him in on this venture to keep this all from blowing up in our faces, correct?"

Mutely, Frederic nodded.

She sighed and straightened up. “Right now, the best thing in the world is to keep some space between those two until her temper cools off a little. But your peace offering, dearest, is only going to worsen the tension because it’s going to keep those two in close proximity, and need I remind you— your daughter will be caught in the middle?” Her laugh was short and as sharp as broken glass. “And peacemaker that she is— she will run herself ragged trying to mend fences between them.”

She could see the dawning light on Frederic’s face. “Oh...” 

“Oh, indeed.”

“I can’t exactly take back the pronouncement now, my love,” Frederic looked a little frantic. “It will only make her—”

“You thought the black rocks were bad,” Arianna finished for him. “They will have nothing on this display of temper.”

He reached out and grasped her hands where they rested on the crown. “Arianna, you have always been my first and best advisor. I think right now I could use a little of your wisdom.”

Arianna huffed and patted his head. “At least you realize when you need help.” She took her hands from under his and set the crown back on his head. “For the moment, you go on with the investment. You’re right in that you can’t take it back now that you’ve said it not only in front of half the nobles but Cassandra herself. Because, you are right, taking it away now would be akin to a slap in the face for her— and I fear she’s had a few too many of those in her life.” Arianna rubbed her temple where the beginnings of a headache was forming. “Fair to say, you will be helping me conspire to keep those two apart as much as possible when that pronouncement will be forcing them to be in close proximity. I fear the worst of the damage is already done, it’s all we can do right now to keep the repercussions contained.”

"Would it help if I said I will follow your lead, my love?"

Arianna sagged. "Only if you swear— and by that I mean on everything you hold dear— that you will not attempt anything else without my approval."

Frederic enfolded one of her hands in his larger ones. "My word, dearest Arianna, that I will not do anything without your say-so."

"Good." Arianna stifled a yawn. "Continue your planning. Our daughter should have Cassandra well in hand, which will spare me the need to contrive excuses to keep Eugene at arm's length. I'm going to see about something and then take a short nap. Wake me in time for lunch and we will go over your plans for the ceremony with a fine-toothed comb."

Frederic bowed over her hand, pressing a loving kiss to her knuckles. "As you say."

Arianna slid off the desk and ruffled his hair. "Good. I will see you at lunch."

She left him and went straight up to the suite Rapunzel and her husband shared. She knew by now that her daughter would have rousted Cassandra out of bed and enveloped her in a whirlwind of preparation. She nodded at the two guards, "Is the captain still in?"

The guard on the right nodded. "Yes, Your Majesty."

Smiling at them, she tapped lightly on the door. 

"I'll be out in a moment," Eugene's voice sounded as weary as she felt.

She opened the door. "I'd rather come in."

Eugene turned from where he was attempting to straighten out a uniform jacket that looked like he had slept in it. "Your Majesty! To what do I owe the pleasure? If you're looking for Rapunzel, she was up before the sun was." His voice was full of forced cheer, but there were dark circles under his eyes.

Arianna shook her head and simply enfolded him in her arms. "My poor child."

Eugene gasped in surprise, but after a moment, he sagged, hands coming up to hold the back of her gown. He shivered in her arms, head dropping to her shoulder. His breathing was ragged, but he did not weep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eugene is not having a good time.
> 
> Next Chapter: Edmund arrives. Things go downhill fast.


	5. Arrivals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The promised appearance of King Edmund. Things... do _not_ go well.

It was a normal morning in court, slightly dull and full of people Cass would much rather have punched than listen to droning on and on. But she let none of it show on her face, standing tall beside Rapunzel's smaller throne, resting her hands on the hilt of the sword Frederick had bequeathed on her with the title of the Princess’s Knight. She’d known the investment was just his way of trying to soothe the temper she’d displayed so very well two weeks ago, but she wasn’t complaining. She liked the way the nobles treated her, with wary respect.

The doors to the audience room crashed open and between one breath and the next Cassandra was between Rapunzel and whatever threat it might— 

Her blade tip dropped and she snarled.  _ Edmund! _

The king of the Dark Kingdom stood framed in the door, flanked by Hector and his two pets. Oblivious to the stares of the nobles, he strode forward, a wide grin on his face. He nodded to Frederic and greeted Eugene with a hearty backslap that staggered the smaller man. Then his eyes lit on Cassandra and if anything, his grin widened. **_“Daughter!”_ ** he boomed.

Cassandra's blade nearly hit the floor, only her trained reflexes allowing her to catch it. "What?" She asked coldly, a vein in her forehead throbbing.

Edmund, ignoring propriety and protocol, marched up the dais and swept her into a bear hug with his single arm. Cass squawked and very nearly buried her sword in his gut. It was only through a massive effort she didn’t. She had gone red in the face and her eye twitched. She shoved him off and backed away from the madman king. 

“King Edmund—” Rapunzel said tentatively, rising from her seat. “Um, Cass— she really  _ doesn’t like _ being hugged.”    
  
Edmund beamed at Rapunzel. “I told you before, you can call me Edmund— or even dad! You are married to my son after all.”

Rapunzel twitched a little, her easy smile becoming a little forced. “Edmund, then—” 

“Better! We’re all family here!” Edmund boomed.

A growl rumbling in her throat, Cass’s hands tightened on her sword until Rapunzel rested a hand on her wrist. “Edmund,” she said diplomatically. “While we understand the mark denotes an heir to the Dark Kingdom— what makes you think Cassandra is your daughter?”

“Ah, Cassandra is a fine name for a queen. Quite regal.” Edmund gushed.

“Edmund— Dad—” Eugene had gotten his breath back and joined Rapunzel on the dais, deliberately putting himself between Edmund and Cass. While Cass  _ might _ kill him, he could lay odds on her going ballistic on his father.  _ Her father? _ It was all very confusing. “Could you please explain?”   
  
“Oh. Uhrm—” Edmund looked momentarily uncomfortable. “Well, due to the kingdom’s long association with the moonstone, births in our family are well attended and documented, for the sake of the bloodline and the threat of the stone. There has only been  _ one _ that wasn’t, and well—”

“Dad?”

_ “Your _ birth, son— you came far too early— we thought due to your mother’s illness. None of the usual witnesses, nor the midwives, were there. Desperate, we summoned a midwife from the village but by the time she arrived— Melisande— she— she w-was already too far gone. That is the only way that your sister could have been born— at the same time. That wretched midwife must have spirited her away while—” Edmund’s countenance crumbled.

“M-my sister—?” Eugene cast a glance over his shoulder at Cass. “Now, I always said you were like a sister to me, but—?”

Cassandra snarled at him. It looked like she was barely holding on to her control by the most fragile of strings.

Rapunzel had eased forward to gingerly pat Edmund’s arm. “You— you’re certain, Edmund?”

“The mark cannot be faked, the spell links it irreversibly to the royal bloodline. I— I brought one of the priests, the keepers of the spell, with us to verify it.” Edmund was slowly regaining his composure. He gestured to the thin man in a robe who had followed Hector in.

“No.” Cassandra’s voice was angry and uncompromising. “I’m no Princess and certainly not related to Fitzherbert here." She shot a glare at Eugene that made him shudder. "You— it's your fault that this mess ever—  _ urrrgghh!  _ I  _ will _ kill you for this!"

Edmund clapped his meaty hand on her shoulder. "Cassandra, my dear, do not murder your brother."

Cass's eye twitched again and her fingers tightened on her sword-hilt. "I am not your dear or your daughter! This is all just one huge nightmare and I for one, would very much like to wake up now, or I am going to cause a diplomatic incident the likes of which has never been seen before!"

"I might be inclined to help you with that, hun. As I personally think King Edmund of the Dark Kingdom has gone out of boundaries of politeness." The voice came from somewhere in the depths of the crowd of flustered nobles, and they parted to let a man in a wine-red tunic and gray cape stride forward. Under his mustache his lips were set in a fierce scowl, and he glared daggers at Edmund.

"Dad!" Cass exclaimed. She hesitated for only a second before pelting down the steps of the dais to hug him.

The former Captain of Corona's guard returned the embrace before sheltering her under an arm and resuming his stare-down with Edmund. “It’s not particularly good form to try to claim someone else’s child.”

Rapunzel hurried to touch her father's arm before this whole fiasco could evolve into bloodshed. Startled, Frederic clapped his hands. "And I do believe that's quite enough court for the day. Nigel, if you would—?"

"Of course, your majesty," the majordomo hurried to usher the gawking nobles out.

Arianna rose to her feet. "Edmund, you and your entourage please remain a moment. Rapunzel, my dear, please take your knight and her father to the family dining hall and see about calming their nerves. I suggest brandy, applied  _ liberally." _

~

Rapunzel was quick to obey, herding Cassandra and her father out of the throne room, in spite of their glares and muttered curses. Her gentle coaxing was firm enough that they did not protest. She quickly steered them to the small dining area that the family used when not hosting state dinners. 

It took gentle pushing to get Cassandra's father to sit and she took her mother's advice and poured him a snifter full of brandy, gently wrapping his sword-callused hands around it and urging him to drink. Cassandra would not settle, pacing restlessly around the room, snarling under her breath. After several minutes of watching her pace like a caged tiger, Rapunzel sighed heavily and poured a tall glass of rum before stalking over and firmly putting it in Cass's twitching hands. 

Cassandra tried to push it back but Rapunzel was firm, lifting the glass to her lips and making her drink or drown in it. Cass sputtered a little at the burn of the alcohol, but finally she took the glass and downed more than half of it in one go.

She stared down into the depths of the honey-colored liquid for a moment. "I'm not."

Rapunzel waited but Cass had dropped into silence, meditatively swirling the liquor in the glass. "Not what?" She prompted softly.

"Not anything." Cass took another swallow but held up her hand before either Rapunzel or her father could raise an objection to her self-derogatory phrase. She set her glass down and started ticking off fingers. _"Not_ related to Fitzherbert. _Not_ a princess. _Not_ heir to the lunatic king out there. _Not_ some stolen child, though boy— does that say a lot about Gothel— and mostly, _not_ _cut out_ to be any of the things you're accusing me of."

"Cass..."

"Don't you see, Raps? I'm a guardsman's brat, through and through. I can barely keep my temper in check at the best of times and right now, as stressed as I am, I'm teetering on an edge I don't dare fall over. I can't do that to you and Corona again." Cass picked up her glass again and slammed the rest of it down in one go. She wiped her mouth on the back of her hand before continuing. "I can still feel it inside me, you know..."

"Feel what?" Rapunzel leaned in to cover Cass's hand with her own.

The bark of laughter that emerged from Cass's lips was ugly, a raw sound that it hurt to hear. "That black, bitter, vicious—  _ poisonous _ anger that kept me lashing out at you and at my dad and Corona when I held the moonstone, when Zhan Tiri's whispers drowned out the voices of everything and everyone I cared for." She raised a clawed hand to her chest like she might rip out that toxic part of her. "It's still there. What if I fall again—?" Now her voice was a broken thing, dripping with anguish and self-hatred.

"Cassandra—!" Cap rose to his feet but Rapunzel stayed him with a raised hand.

She caught Cass's chin and forced her to meet her eyes. "Yes, you are angry. You had the right to be then and you have the right to be now, but take a good look at that anger, and tell me, would you fall into it again— knowing how much it hurt everyone— hurt you— would you let it consume you again?"

Cass shuddered. "I wouldn't ever want it to, but I can feel it lurking there, like a monster under my skin, ready to lash out."

"But you want to keep it contained?"

"More than anything."

"Then you will. All you have to do is remember that hurt and know that you are the one keeping it caged and tamed to keep from inflicting that pain again."

Cassandra shuddered, but straightened up. The torment in her eyes receded. Rapunzel drew her into a hug and motioned to Cap. No fool, he headed over to join the embrace.

~

As soon as Rapunzel had herded Cass and her Father out of the room, Arianna put on her most political smile.

Frederic started to rise. 

Arianna clamped a hand down on his arm. “Not a word,” she hissed at him before turning her attention and a practiced smile on the King of the Dark Kingdom. “You’ve had to come such a long way, King Edmund, you and your party must be exhausted. Nigel, be a dear and have some of our finest guest rooms made up— How many are in your party, your majesty?” She padded down the dais and rested a hand on Edmunds thick wrist. 

“Ah— just myself, Hector, and the priest.”

“Three rooms then, Nigel.” Arianna glanced down at the two binturongs prowling around Hector’s feet. “Will they be needing special accommodations?”

Hector shook his head no and then at a stern look from Edmund, replied. “If there’s an empty stall and some hay, they’ll do fine. They won’t bother the horses. I can send them out to hunt.”   
  
“No need,” Arianna said. “I can have one of the boys run to the butcher. I assume beef will do?”

Hector nodded curtly. “A whole haunch each. They were on short rations most of the trip here.”

“I’ll see to it,” Arianna reassured. She offered a hand to one of the binturongs, unperturbed at its growl. Hector rested a hand on the beast’s head and reluctantly it sniffed the offered hand. Arianna curled her fingers under and began scratching the binturong’s chin.

It looked surprised for a moment and then went cross-eyed with pleasure, leaning into the caress. Jealously, the other shouldered the first aside for its own share of the scratches.

Laughing, Arianna began scratching it with her other hand. “They’re lovely.”

Hector’s demeanor softened a bit. He nodded to each of the creatures in turn. “They’re called Sturm and Drang.”

“Good names— though right now, they don’t look like Storm and Stress,” Arianna chuckled as one of them nudged her insistently.

Hector unbent enough to chuckle, shoving at the two shaggy heads. “Off with you, now.”

Arianna smiled. “I’ll have a page show you to the stables and then your room.”

When everyone had been shooed out to their respective destinations, Arianna turned a gimlet stare on her husband. “Frederic.” Her voice was disturbingly flat.

“My dearest?”

“Don’t you dearest me, Frederic.” She scowled at him. “Are you  _ trying _ to cause an incident?”

“What did I do?”

"Oh, you want a list? You enraged Cassandra to the point of attempting to shake the prince-consort to death— in the throne room, mind you— a week ago, and in so doing— endangered his life. Twice, I might add, because she looked ready to kill him again today.”

She ticked off a finger. “And today— you infuriated the former Captain of the Guard— her father by choice— by not having this in a controlled environment, where you know, sudden declarations of paternity wouldn’t have blindsided him.

“But no, Edmund shows up and in front of the whole court,” she waved a hand round the throne room, empty now. “Calls Cassandra _ 'daughter.' _ And wasn’t _ that _ a surprise for all of us? I should like to know if you knew of that before he arrived—?” Her voice was icy.

Frederic mutely shook his head. He had seldom seen her so angry.

“And let’s not forget that Edmund bear hugs her— when you are well aware how she feels about anyone hugging her but Rapunzel— which had the effect of enraging her— yet again. You are lucky she didn't cause a diplomatic nightmare by stabbing him right then and there."

"But, my love—”

"But me no buts, husband. Your game has backfired on you spectacularly today. You realize one of the people you managed to infuriate today knows more about this Castle's security than anyone else, and the other is his daughter, who knows it just as well?"

"I may have miscalculated." Frederic looked appalled.

“You think?" Arianna folded her arms and stared him down. “We are  **_DONE_ ** with your foolish playing at revenge.”

Frederic nodded meekly. "What should we do?"

"The very first thing you are doing, my darling husband, is apologizing."

*"But, dearest..." Frederic looked confounded. "What exactly am I apologizing for? And whom to?"

Arianna rubbed her temples where the opening salvos of what promised to be a massive headache were beginning to drum. "Start with Cassandra. She is still furious at Eugene for betraying her and outing the mark. Even though you were the one to contact Edmund, in her eyes, it was Eugene who told you, thus giving you tacit permission to tell him. And do not think I don't know  _ exactly _ how you got the information from him. We will be discussing  _ that _ later. But this is a place to start."

Frederic worried a thumbnail in his mouth. "I—" He glanced over at the guards who were studiously pretending they weren’t listening avidly. “Shall we discuss matters in my study, dearest?”

Arianna caught the glance and nodded. 

Frederic rose from his throne and offered her his elbow. Lips pursed, Arianna regarded him for a long moment before sighing and slipping her fingers into the crook of it. Cautiously, Frederic rested his fingers over hers and escorted her out into the halls of the palace.

Just then his eye caught on movement further down the hall. The physician who had patched Cassandra up after her encounter with bandits. His face brightened. "I may have an idea. Something to soothe her anger."

"Tell me first. I'd rather not clean up after you again." Arianna’s sideways glance was a warning.

~

She had holed up in her room for a while after Rapunzel had calmed her down. The last thing she wanted was to deal with  _ anyone _ after the debacle at court this morning. But she had promised to go riding with Rapunzel this afternoon and that was the one and only reason she had emerged. She slipped soundlessly past maids and footmen, glad that her room was still in the servant’s quarters. No royalty here—

"Cassandra."

And she was wrong.  _ Of course. _

"Yes, your majesty." Cass said through gritted teeth, trying her best to control her temper. She still wasn’t having much luck with that.

Frederic couldn't deny he felt an urge to flee, but stood his ground. He had created this mess, and at least this part of it he  _ could _ fix. "Eugene was not the one who told me you had the mark."

Cassandra whirled on him, anger flaring in her eyes. "Rapunzel would  _ never—” _

"And she did not," Frederic said firmly. "But when the royal doctor saw a known mark associated with another kingdom, he thought to let me know.”

Cassandra hesitated, the anger in her eyes guttering out. “The doctor?”

Frederic nodded slowly. “Yes. I did question Eugene about the marking of children of the royal line, but I made it sound like I was talking about him and any children he and my daughter may have." Which was indeed a valid concern for a grandfather to have. "He did not betray your secret."

Cassandra didn't seem to quite believe him, fists still knotted by her sides. "And the reason he never said anything to that effect when I was threatening his  _ life?" _

"Would you have believed him?" Frederic asked frankly. “You were determined that it was he who betrayed you, and in all honesty—” He let his words trail off. Cassandra knew her own volatile temper better than anyone.

She let out a deep breath, letting a lot of her fury go with it. She couldn't afford to be less than honest with herself. "No."

Hiding a sigh of relief, Frederic nodded down at her. “I admit— I did take some pleasure in attempting a subtle sort of— yes, revenge— on you, but I took it too far and by doing so caused a great deal of strife where there should have been none.”

Cassandra debated for a long breathless moment and then quirked the smallest of smiles. “I won’t say ‘none’, your majesty, because this is Fitzherbert we’re talking about here, but yes.”

He smiled at her and Cassandra returned a bow— a proper one this time.

When he left her alone there in the hall, she stood still for a long moment before heaving a sigh and continuing on her way. Maybe— just maybe after her ride she’d—

_ "I'm sorry." _

You would have thought she'd drawn a weapon on him, with how quickly Fitzherbert turned around, and the unvarnished shock in his eyes. 

Cassandra straightened her shoulders, looking at his uniform, not the face above it. It made it easier to say, "The King told me it was the doctor who told him about my birthmark. So you didn't deserve what I've been putting you through." The words were hard to get out, but she was trying to be better. Still if he  _ dared _ make fun of her or ask her to repeat it...

"Eh, just consider it backed-up karma from my bad old days. And I get it— why you're so upset." 

"You do?" Cass asked a little skeptically, finally looking up.

"The fact that it's a gods-awful name isn't the  _ only _ reason I didn't start going by Horace." Eugene said, uncharacteristically serious. "For Rapunzel, it was easy for her to slip into being a Princess — no  _ scratch _ that." They'd both  _ seen _ her adjustment period. 

"More that— it was easier for her to redefine herself as the Princess, daughter of Frederic and Arianna. Because  _ she-who-shall-not-be-named _ never let her really figure out who she was and the one identifier she thought she had— her mother— was a fake who was using her."

"You can use her name, you know. I'm not that fragile." Cass said crossly.

"You're not the only one with issues with her." Eugene said, equally annoyed. "Rapunzel has seventeen years of abuse— and I still do my best to ignore the fact that she murdered me and Sunshine somehow brought me back to life."

It was an unnerving thought, and that wasn't what was unsettling Cass. It was as though the Eugene she knew had been peeled away and someone new was standing before her, and she wasn't sure she liked it. She chased away her own memories of death thwarted to focus on his words, though a chill still crawled up her back.

"It was harder for us— you and I, I mean— because we had an idea of who we were. And being told at least part of what we knew of ourselves isn't true, well— it makes the rest of it pretty damn shaky. And Dad isn't the easiest to work with.    
  
“I mean, beggars and choosers in my case, but you're the only one of us three displaced royals who actually had any experience with a loving parent." He concluded with a shrug.

She hadn't thought of it in those terms, but he was right. She'd felt alone and isolated, but her, Rapunzel and Eugene had all been in the same boat. They'd gone through this before with varying degrees of ease, but they had gone through it. "I guess you're right."

He shrugged again, but was smiling. "Just doing what I can to keep peace in the castle. If you're upset, Sunshine is upset. And no one is happy when she's upset."

Cass chuckled. "Isn't that the truth?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Hector makes a _grave_ mistake.


	6. From Bad to Worse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to offer fair warning. While nothing happens and there were no intentions on the attackers part, there are heavy allusions and parallels between the attack in this chapter and rape, including the shock and state of mind of the victim afterwards. If this causes you any distress, I recommend you pass this chapter. I and my co-author could not bear to cause any harm to our readers.

Rapunzel was grateful for her mother’s intervention yesterday. Whatever else had happened, Cass had been in a much better mood during their afternoon ride, though she had not said anything about it. Rapunzel was still worried about Cap though, he had barely said a word after they had calmed Cass down, and promptly, if politely, had shook off her questions after Cass had retreated to the sanctuary of her room. How hard was it for him, she wondered, to come to court and hear someone claim his child as their own?   
  
Edmund and entourage had been quiet since yesterday morning, Edmund pleading exhaustion after their journey. Rapunzel was honestly glad. Edmund was too much at the best of times. And with everything teetering in a delicate balance— 

After breakfast with her parents (Eugene had been overseeing guard changes to accommodate their new guests), she had pled a headache (not really even a lie) to get out of her duties for the morning. She had retreated to her room to think. Her painting wasn’t much more than bold slashes of color on the canvas, but it was more to keep her hands busy while her brain chewed away at the problems that had landed in their laps.

“Um, Sunshine—”

Rapunzel turned away from her canvas to see her husband hovering uncertainly in the doorway. The look on his face, something between worry and outright panic, boded no good. “What is it?”

“We kinda need you in the infirmary right now— or we might be looking at— is it an _ incident  _ if a priest ends up dead— or a  _ disaster?” _ He caught her arm and tugged her down the hallway at a near-run.

“Eugene?”

“Trust me, Sunshine, I think you are the only one in the whole kingdom who can defuse this.”

They burst into the Castle infirmary, and Rapunzel took in everything in a quick glance.

Cass was backed against a wall, her eyes wild and a dagger clutched in her hand.

In front of her was Edmund, Hector and the priest they had brought with them. Hector wore a sly smile, prowling back and forth between Cassandra and the other two with feral grace, and also, not so incidentally, blocking the only door.

“Please, Daughter, there is no need for this kind of dramatics,” Edmund was saying, a heavy frown on his features. “Just let the man do his duty—” He indicated the impassive priest, merely watching Cass with the eyes of a hawk.

“He’s not touching me. You’re not touching me. And the psycho is most especially not coming anywhere near me again! I want all of you out of here right now!” Cass was almost screaming, shaking with rage. Her wild gaze darted to Hector. “No, actually I want his damned head  _ on a platter!” _

Hector smirked. “I’d love to see you try,  _ princess.” _

Cass lunged for him. “I nearly  _ killed _ you once! I’ll finish the fucking job this time!”

Eugene left Rapunzel's side and ran to intercept. He caught Cass around the waist to keep her from attacking Hector, earning an elbow in the gut and very nearly a dagger too. She fought his grip wildly, and it took all his strength to hold her. Even lifting her feet off the floor had little effect. He hadn’t even seen her this enraged at him, and to be honest, it was a little scary. “Little help here, Sunshine!”

**_“STOP!”_ **

Rapunzel’s shouted command actually did stop Cass. Panting, her eyes just this side of hysterical, Cass hung in Eugene’s grip, her fingers white-knuckled around the hilt of her dagger.  _ “Let me go, Fitzherbert, so I can feed that bastard to his fucking pets!”  _ she hissed.

“Cass, that’s enough.” Rapunzel, unafraid, rested a hand on Cass’s trembling wrist. “What happened here?”

“Princess, if I may—?” A timid voice came from a corner of the room. The physician’s young apprentice had sheltered herself behind a cabinet, white as the sheets piled in her arms.

Rapunzel nodded at her and she very cautiously straightened up, flinching when Hector glanced her way. “Um— Cassandra had come in for more of the wound salve for her leg. I was just getting it for her and the three of them came in.” A shaking finger pointed at Hector. “He grabbed her and said something about 'time to see the proof'.”

Cass snarled, an ugly, vicious sound. Her glare was full of a hellish light. “You touch me again—!”

“Cass.” Rapunzel’s voice was mild. “And then?” she asked the girl.

“He— he snatched for the waist of her pants and— and then she threw him into the wall.” Her finger moved to indicate where a torn hanging fluttered. "There. And then he—" The finger shifted to point at Edmund. “He said that the priest had to verify the mark. And she needed to calm down. And that one—” her finger darted back to Hector’s smug face. “Caught her arm again and— and tried a second time to grab at her clothes. She pulled her dagger and—”

Eugene had let go of Cass. His face was murderous. “Okay, I _missed_ ** _that_** _part."_ He interrupted, seething. "I only saw her holding the three of you at knifepoint. I didn’t know crazy feral man there tried to _strip_ her. Dad, how could you _even—?”_

Rapunzel’s face was like stone. Her finger lifted and pointed at the door. “Hector,  **_out.”_ ** Her tone was glacial. “Before I lose my temper  _ too.” _

Hector snorted and Cass nearly went for him again, only the fact that Rapunzel was between them keeping her in place. Her teeth were gritted though, and she looked ready to cut Hector into small bits.

Hector bowed theatrically and stalked out the door, cloak sweeping behind him. Cass snarled after him.

Rapunzel’s gaze went to the priest. “I do believe the verification will have to wait for a bit as long as you want to continue breathing. Touching Cassandra at the moment is a way to get very,  _ very _ dead.”

“Cassandra—” Edmund began.

“Dad,  _ don’t.”  _ Eugene’s voice was flat and uncompromising. “This is really, really not the time.”

Rapunzel was unflinching. “Edmund, please. As I said, verifying the mark will have to wait. Now, please, leave us for a while, both of you.”

Edmund cleared his throat and finally nodded, ushering the priest out and then following. 

Calmly, Rapunzel got the pot of salve from the apprentice and then dismissed her too before returning to where Cass was still seething. 

Standing slightly behind fury given human form, Eugene’s face was hard and angry. Rapunzel sighed and handed the pot to Cassandra, who fumbled it like she didn’t know what to do with it, before going on her toes to kiss Eugene’s cheek. “Love, go on. I’ve got this. You need to calm down a bit before you make things worse, okay? I’ll take care of this.”

Eugene drew in a breath that was almost a gasp, shaking himself all over. “Right. Calming down.” Rapunzel didn’t like the look in his eyes, but at the moment Cass needed her more. She squeezed his hand and lifted it to press a second kiss to his knuckles. He sighed and left them, his shoulders tight and knotted. At the doorway, he spared one glance back at Cass, his lips pressed into a thin line.

Rapunzel firmly closed the door behind him before returning to Cass where she stood, vibrating like a bowstring with barely suppressed tension. She said nothing, only steering Cass down on the edge of one of the cots. 

Cass’s flinty eyes were still a little wild, but just being alone with Rapunzel seemed to be calming her. Cass sucked in a shuddering breath and then another, fingers convulsively closing on the edge of the cot. She had set the pot of salve down but her dagger was still in one hand like she was loath to let it go.

Sighing, Rapunzel laid a hand on her bicep, sliding it slowly down her arm to pry the dagger out of fingers so tense they had to hurt. Speaking of—

“Did he hurt you?”

Cass flinched a little, rage melting into uncertainty. “I—I— No, I don’t think— think so. Just my dignity.” She seemed to have trouble articulating her thoughts.

Rapunzel set the dagger aside and smoothed a hand over Cass’s tumbled curls, now damp with sweat. With the anger fading, Cass had started to shake with reaction. “Raps—” Her voice was raw and perhaps even a little scared.

“Shhh—” Rapunzel sat down next to her and folded her into her arms. For the first time since this whole thing started, Cass broke, clinging tightly to her and shaking, her breath ragged. She wasn’t crying, not yet, but Rapunzel could tell she wasn’t far from it.

“Raps— I can’t. I’m not—”

“Shhh—” Rapunzel soothed. “You can. You are the strongest person I know.”

“I don’t feel that way.” Cassandra muttered into her shoulder. “I feel like I could break into tiny pieces. And there's not going to be enough left of me— the  _ real _ me— to put back together again.”

Rapunzel held her until the shaking lessened and then urged her to her feet. Taking Cass’s unresisting hand, Rapunzel led her up the stairs to the princess’s bedroom. 

Calmly doing what Cass had done for her in the year as her lady in waiting, she bundled Cass into a hot bath, quietly simmering hotter than the water as she found a ragged tear in the waistband on the pants Cassandra had been wearing as she carried them out of the bathroom. Convulsively, Rapunzel stuffed them in her rubbish bin, burying them under paint-stained rags and empty paint pots, and sent Faith down to Cass’s room to fetch clean clothes. She never wanted Cass to see those pants  _ ever _ again. She never wanted to see them again either.

If Hector ever laid a hand on her friend again, Rapunzel was going to feed him his teeth via a frying pan to the face. She wasn't by nature violent, but there were some lines you didn't cross.

She accepted the clothes from Faith and handed her a note to take to her father, excusing herself from duties for the rest of the day. She tapped lightly on the bathroom door. “Cass, I have some clean clothes for you.” When there was no answer she opened the door, more than a little worried.

She breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of her best friend slumped in the hot water, her head tipped back and resting on the edge of the tub. Her breathing was deep and even. Despite the high emotion of earlier, the hot water had done its job in relaxing wire-taut muscles.

Rapunzel set the clothes down and touched Cass’s shoulder lightly. “Don’t fall asleep in the water. Don’t want you to drown.”

Cass opened her eyes and blinked for a moment before she seemed to recall what had happened. Her gray eyes went shuttered and her lips puckered on a retort she didn’t say out loud.

Rapunzel sighed. “Cass—”

“I’m taking up too much of your time, Raps.” Cass said dully, crossing her arms over her breasts and drawing her knees up until they poked out of the water. “Just give me a moment to get dressed and I’ll get out of your hair.”

“You stay put.” Rapunzel sat on the wide ledge surrounding the tub. “You— you had a bad shock and I want you nearby, okay? I just didn’t want you to fall asleep in the water.” She turned and slipped her bare feet into the water by Cass’s side. “Now sit up a little and hand me that blue bottle. I’m going to wash your hair.”

Cass did sit up but it was only to protest. “Raps, I’ll be fine—”

Rapunzel poked her toes into Cass’s bare ribs. “Shoosh. I’m washing your hair.” Rapunzel frowned down at her. “Not winning this one,” she warned.

Cass sighed but obediently handed over the bottle when toes dug into her ribs again. “I— Sorry I lost my temper,” she said softly, eyes closed as Rapunzel scooped water over her hair. “I’m not  _ trying _ to cause an incident— but—”

Rapunzel growled softly under her breath as she poured shampoo into her hand. “I’ll cause one  _ for _ you if he  _ ever _ comes near you again. He  _ crossed a line _ today.”

Cassandra felt a new shiver climb its way up her back as Rapunzel’s fingers worked into her hair. She wasn’t used to feeling vulnerable— and that was exactly what she had felt as Hector grabbed her clothes. She drew her shoulders in, fingers idly picking at the healing gash on her leg. The pain was grounding, at least until Rapunzel noticed and firmly shoved her hand away with her foot. 

“Stop that, Cass.” Rapunzel scolded gently. “I can see what you’re doing, and it’s not helping.”

Cass sighed but obeyed, lifting both hands to leave them plainly visible on the edges of the tub while Rapunzel finished with her hair and poured a bucket full of fresh warm water over it to rinse the suds away. 

Rapunzel pulled her feet out of the water and rose. “I’m going to get some more towels. You just soak till I come back, Cass.”

Cass leaned her head back, wet hair spread on the side of the tub and closed her eyes. "Thank you, Raps. For— for everything."

"You don't have to thank me, Cass." Rapunzel headed for the door and stopped for a moment to look at the clothes Faith had brought. Shaking her head, she scooped them up and carried them away with her, returning a few moments later with a pile of fluffy towels and one of her own nightdresses. She didn’t think she felt comfortable letting Cass out of her sight at all tonight. Possibly for the next few nights. 

She thought that Eugene would forgive her that, considering his own reaction. And now that Cass wasn't angry at Eugene—  _ much _ — anymore...

Well, she could deal with that as it came. Right now she had a friend to look after.

~

"Team Awesome has a new mission." Varian looked up as Eugene all but burst through the doorway of his workroom, startling Ruddiger into scurrying under the table, where he crouched and chattered irritatedly at Eugene.

Usually Eugene was upbeat when talking about their nickname, but today he sounded as serious as when he was leading the charge to take back Corona.

Varian looked up from his latest project, carefully setting his tools aside. "What mission?"

"Dad brought crazy rhino man here with him. And when Dad needed the birthmark verified, Hector decided to help by forcefully disrobing Cass."

And suddenly Varian understood the cold fury in Eugene's voice all too well. Cass was... she was special to him— to both of them. He’d gotten the gist of what had happened over the course of several nights with Eugene  _ not _ hiding in his workroom. Finally he’d gone to Rapunzel to find out enough details to make sense of it. 

"Now me threatening him would be useless. Because let's face it, Cass is scarier than both of us combined. And I can't do anything overt because we've been dangling on the edge of a diplomatic incident this whole time and I'm not going to be the one to tip it over. I can't do that to Rapunzel's parents or Dad. But you,” he pointed suddenly at Varian’s chest. “Have a brilliant brain, and I have a certain set of skills people are starting to forget I have, and together we're going to make Hector subtly miserable for his entire time here, and beyond if we can manage it."

Varian grinned widely. It wasn't a comforting smile, and it made Eugene glad he was back on their side. "Oh, I'm sure we can manage it. Rhino dude won't know what hit him." Varian picked up a glass flask half-full of some purplish liquid and gave it a shake. It started glowing, under-lighting his smile with a disturbing gleam.

~

Eugene quietly opened the door to the bedroom, tired but more than a bit pleased with himself over the plans he and Varian had started on. "Hey, Sunshine—" he said, expecting to see his wife curled up in the massive bed. It was very late, after all.

"Shhhhh, Eugene—" Her voice was quiet and the room brightened a little.

He blinked. Rapunzel was indeed in the bed, her back resting against a pile of pillows, one hand outstretched from where she had turned the lamp up. Curled up into a tight ball beside her, head resting in her lap, was Cassandra, clad in a familiar lavender nightdress. Rapunzel was smoothing her other hand over Cass's hair soothingly and humming softly. 

Eugene hesitated, a fresh spike of anger burning cold under his breastbone. "Sweetheart, is— did he hurt her?"

Rapunzel shook her head, almost singing her soft words to the tune of what she was humming. "No, he just shook her up quite badly. Scared her a little, though she'll never admit to it aloud. I just got her to sleep though, so keep your voice down."

Relief replaced rage and Eugene sat down on the edge of the bed. He glanced down at Cass's troubled face and clenched his fist. "Thanks for taking charge today. By the time I found out what he had tried, I— probably wasn't thinking real straight."

The hand that wasn't stroking Cassandra's tumbled curls lifted and cupped his cheek. "You were angry. So was I— but I have more experience at being diplomatic no matter how much I want someone's head on a pike." She smiled but there was a hard edge in her eyes. "And I really, really want to do something  _ unpleasant _ to him for doing that to her."

Eugene let a wolfish smile curl over his lips. “Don’t do anything, sweetheart. Can’t cause an incident. But I think the fates are going to make the rest of his stay in Corona very,  _ very _ unpleasant.”

~

Cass stirred sleepily. 

Her head ached and the feel of a warm body pressed against hers sent her bolt upright, her heart thundering in her ears. Gasping, she opened her eyes. Dozens of lanterns, not lit, but bright in the moonlight, met her eyes, hanging from the ceiling. Rapunzel's room. She was in Rapunzel's bedroom.

There was a lit lamp on the bedside table, limning Rapunzel's features, soft in sleep, where she was tucked against Cass's side. Cass breathed again, reaching down a shaking hand to touch Rapunzel's soft hair, reassurance that she was real. Not a part of the nightmares that had troubled her sleep.

"You okay?" The voice was soft and tired, but familiar. Turning away from Rapunzel, Cass saw Eugene resting in one of the wingback chairs, pulled close enough to the side of the bed that he could prop his legs on the mattress. He had a blanket draped over his legs and looked like he hadn't slept at all.

The corner of his mouth quirked up and he glanced down at his feet, peeking out from under the edge of the blanket. "Figured you probably wouldn't have reacted well if I crawled in with you two."

Cassandra shivered. Pretty obviously, from her nightmares, she would not have. "Sorry for stealing your bed. Raps—"

"Yeah—" he flipped a hand in the air. "She wasn't about to let you go anywhere she couldn't keep her eyes on you. What happened freaked her out almost as much as it did you."

Cassandra wrapped her arms around her chest. She felt exposed, laid bare before him, and not just because she was wearing one of Rapunzel’s nightgowns. She ducked her head so she wouldn't have to look him in the eyes. "I shouldn't— shouldn't feel like this. They were just—"

His hand came up. "Gonna stop you right there. He crossed a line, Cass, and violated your boundaries. Sunshine and I want his head on a platter for that.  _ 'Just' _ nothing." There was a thread of anger in his tone that she had never heard before, anger for her sake.

But Eugene wasn't done. "And before you say it, yeah, I kinda skirted that line too, if not ignored it completely. I was wrong for that and I'm sorry. Maybe if I hadn't  _ had _ to see it with my own eyes, none of this would have ever happened and we could have just continued on being the princess, the roguishly handsome Captain of the Guard and the cold-blooded Dragon Lady." His eyes dropped and he sighed. "But I did. I was so desperate, that I violated your trust, and well... I apologize. I am so sorry."

Cass sat there in silence for a moment, cold shivers tracing up and down her skin. "I was... I was furious at you, but... Why were you so desperate?"

"Because here I may be a Prince-Consort instead of a ruling Prince, but I'm okay with that. I love Rapunzel and having to leave her to rule a kingdom I never wanted, I just— I can't. So the desperate hope that there was some other heir that could take the throne when Dad finally keels over— I wasn't thinking. I only wanted a way out, and the thought that you had the damned birthmark too? Well it was a ray of hope I hadn't expected and I— I grabbed for it with both hands." His mouth quirked up in a lopsided smile. “You apologized to me and now it’s my turn. I’m sorry, Cass. I wasn’t thinking of what it might do to you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To anyone still reading, thank you for sticking with us.
> 
> Next Chapter: Clean up is never pretty, especially when someone never knew how vulnerable they could be.


	7. Not Fallen, But Bruised

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cass is not having a good time in this chapter. Then again, neither is Eugene.

Varian was up with the dawn— well, technically he hadn't slept yet, as he often worked on projects until late into the night. He stopped at the kitchens where the morning baking was in progress, and looking woeful and underfed netted him a basket of sweetrolls and buns fresh out of the bake-ovens. He snagged a bowl of butter and two crockery mugs off a shelf on the way out.

As accident-prone as he was— not counting the odd alchemical incident— he knew the infirmary and the routines of the attendants. Right about now, the physician’s assistant would be starting her morning cleaning, changing linens and the boiling of all the instruments. “Hey, Amalia,” he greeted cheerfully. “I just came to get some more bandages for the workroom. I used the last of them the other week when—” he mimed something exploding, adding in a sound effect for good measure. “But well, I did stop to grab some breakfast since you know me and how I forget to eat. Wanna share?” He lifted the basket, knowing the smell of fresh bread was like a siren song. “I also have some tea if you can spare some of the boiling water.”

Her face brightened with a smile. “I think I can do that.”

They had a picnic-style breakfast, perched on a stripped-bare cot and eating with their fingers. Amalia was happy to talk about everything and anything and he didn’t even have to ask too many leading questions to get a blow by blow of what had happened yesterday. He didn’t bother to hide how furious he was as the tale unfolded. She knew he and Cassandra were friends so she was quick to reassure him that Cass had been unhurt, physically, at least. 

He let his anger show. “What if he tries it again? Or worse, tries something on someone who can’t defend themselves as well as Cassandra can?”

Amalia’s face creased into a frown. “I didn’t think of that. People like that— well, when they think they’ve been thwarted or embarrassed, they get more violent. I should probably warn the maids that have to clean his room.”

“I think I would warn all the maids and laundresses. Anyone he could get alone.” Varian told her earnestly. “I mean if he asks to have food brought to his room, the cook’s helpers could be in danger too.”

“Oh! That would be terrible!”

Satisfied that he had planted the right seeds, Varian took his leave of her, promising to check on ‘poor Cassandra’ (her words, and he knew that those seeds had taken root).

He made a quick detour up to the princess’s room to report that phase one was well on its way. He shared the last of his sweetrolls with Stan and Pete while he waited for Eugene to answer the door. Eugene looked rumpled and tired-eyed, but he brightened as he saw Varian. “Come in, but keep your voice down. They’re still sleeping.”

They? Varian glanced over at the large bed and saw Rapunzel curled around another body, this one with a rumpled head of dark curls. He raised his eyebrow at Eugene.

“She wasn’t going to admit it, but she was shook up,” Eugene told him in a low voice, leading the way out to the balcony, where hopefully their voices would not wake the sleeping girls. “Sunshine wasn’t about to let her out of her sight after that, and to be honest, I’m kinda glad my wife is as stubborn as she is. Cass kept waking up with nightmares.”

Varian gritted his teeth. “That bastard isn’t going to know what hit him.”

“Normally, I’d say ‘language,’ but I don’t disagree.” Eugene leaned on the stone balustrade and yawned, rubbing his eyes.

“I know I haven’t slept yet, but you look like you haven’t either.” Varian pointed out.

“Thanks. Good to know I look as bad as I feel. I cat-napped in a chair. I could have gone to my old quarters, but I wanted to stay close. Just in case.”

Varian glanced over his shoulder at the bed, and pulled his lips back from his teeth in a vulpine grin. “I’m gonna make him regret ever coming to Corona, much less going after Cass.”

“Remember, nothing that can be traced back to either of us.” Eugene warned.

Varian’s grin widened. “Well, I can say honestly, after today if he gets his room cleaned or laundry done, he’ll be doing it himself.” He quickly relayed the conversation he’d had with Amalia and her promise to warn everyone about Hector. “Course, she’ll probably spread around that he attacked Cass, so she’s not gonna like that if she hears, but it’s pretty much guaranteed to garner her sympathy.”

Eugene glanced back at the bed himself, something unreadable in his tired eyes. “Dragon Lady can cope. I’d rather her be the victim in this chess game, so no one thinks his misfortune has anything to do with her, or us.”

“Oh, trust me to be subtle, Eugene. I’m getting pretty good at it. I have one more thing to do before I go to bed. This is the last time Hector is going to get a comfortable shower. These new boilers and pipes are just  _ so _ unreliable.”

Knowing how much pride Varian took in his work, Eugene couldn't help a bark of laughter.

In response, there was a muzzy, questioning sound from in the bedroom. Eugene covered his mouth and crept back in to see Rapunzel blearily sitting up. "Shhh, sweetheart. It's just me. Go back to sleep."

Rapunzel's half-open eyes settled on Cass curled beside her, and he could see the awareness creeping in. She reached down to stroke Cass's hair.

"She's okay, Sunshine. I think she slept better here than she would have anyplace else." Eugene reassured.

Humming an absent assent, Rapunzel threaded her fingers through Cassandra's tangled curls.

"You think she's ready to face the day?"

Rapunzel yawned. "Probably. I don't want her to though." She blinked. "Morning, Varian. What brings you here at this hour?" 

Varian waved shyly. "Amalia asked me to check on her. She wasn't in her room so I came to ask Eugene if he knew where she was, and lo and behold—"

Rapunzel stifled a giggle. “Yeah, I kinda kidnapped her after— after  _ that _ and thought she might do better with me than alone.”

Eugene leaned over to press a kiss on the crown of his wife’s head. “It was a good thought, sweetheart. Unless there’s something you can’t get out of this morning, I’d suggest the two of you stay in for a while. Do whatever things girls do— in her case, probably sharpen weapons and be homicidal, but you know, whatever makes her happy.”

Rapunzel laughed, quickly stifling it with her hands before it could wake Cassandra. “You know what, I think I will. I’ll have the kitchen send up some breakfast and one of the maids tell mom that I’m staying in, but that I need to see her at her earliest convenience.”

"Oh?"

"Mom— Friedborg tells her all the castle gossip. She needs to hear it from me and Cass before she gets a distorted version through the grapevine. I only hope she gets the real version to Cap before the gossips do. He’s not gonna be happy either way.” Rapunzel frowned thoughtfully. “He’s not gonna be above doing something that will get us in a diplomatic incident, not after the stunt Edmund pulled. Then again, while I won't cause an incident, but mom might." Rapunzel's smile had a hard edge. "And whatever the  _ fates  _ have planned for Hector, they might want to leave room for one very annoyed queen and one royally peeved father."

Heroically resisting the urge to chuckle darkly, Eugene waved Varian toward the door.

After sending Varian off on his mission to sabotage his own creation, Eugene kissed Rapunzel goodbye and took himself out. He had duties to attend to after all, and he needed to be seen not shirking them. Plausible deniability, and all that. He stopped outside the doors and measured up Stan and Pete. Varian had taken care of the servants, but— "Stan, Pete, a word with you?"

Both of them snapped to attention. "Sir!"

"Rapunzel is staying in today. She'll be looking after Cassandra, so I expect you two to keep things under control. No visitors that she doesn't approve  _ first _ and try to keep things quiet."

Stan and Pete exchanged a look and then Pete tentatively ventured. "Sir, if it's not out of place to ask— did something happen to Cassandra?"

Eugene kept his frown firmly in place in spite of the smile trying to escape.  _ Hook. _

"In the interests of security, I'll tell you, but you can't let her know I did. You know how she feels about anyone thinking she can't take care of herself."

They shared another look before nodding.  _ Line. _

Succinctly, Eugene summed up Hector's assault, letting only hints of his real anger show.

Stan's mouth firmed into a thin, hard line under his moustache. "We understand, sir." 

_ And sinker. _ By nightfall, every guard in the castle proper would be not so subtly keeping an eye on Hector, and best of all, it wouldn't have come from Eugene, but from their fellows. Most of them had known Cass since childhood, and as daughter of their former captain, well— even after the events of the moonstone, she was still one of theirs.

Eugene left them with a grim smile. Now on to less pleasant duties...

Long strides carried him up to the door of one of the finer guest rooms and, glancing briefly at the guards on either side of the door, he pounded hard. After a long moment the door opened. “Hey, Dad. Let's  _ talk—” _

Smiling, Edmund opened the door to let him in. Eugene knew what he said next was going to wipe that smile off his face, but that paled in comparison. 

As soon as the door shut behind them, Eugene led the way to the balcony, each step feeling like his legs were made of lead. Well, at least he had been hated before. It was an emotion he knew how to handle. He leaned against the balustrade and drew in a deep breath of the morning air, crisp and cool. It did nothing to cool the anger.

**_“How could you?”_ ** He seethed. “That was way past the bounds of politeness, propriety, or even  _ fucking human decency! _ Even if you have to prove she’s really got the mark, letting that sadistic lunatic manhandle her like that—? Do you even know what it looked like? Trust me, I grew up in an orphanage and the streets and that is exactly what it looked like! Can you imagine how she felt? Is this some sort of petty revenge for her controlling you with the Mind Trap?” He refused to turn to face him, the line of his shoulders tight with anger. “If you can’t trust that even if Frederic doesn’t know what he’s talking about, I saw the damned mark myself. It’s identical to mine! You already called her daughter and then that— _ that—” _

Eugene clenched both hands on the stone balustrade and sucked in a deep breath that was almost a gasp.  _ Control. _ He had to keep control.

“Son—” Edmund’s voice was as hesitant as he’d ever heard it.

“I’m not going to tell you not to call me that, but right now, if the way you treated her is how you are inclined to treat kin, I’m leaning that way,  **_Dad—”_ **

He felt more than saw Edmund reel back a step. With bated breath, Eugene waited for the explosion that was sure to follow his outburst.

What he got was absolute silence. After it had stretched until his nerves could bear no more, he finally dared turn to look at Edmund.

Edmund looked absolutely stricken. His mouth opened and closed a few times before he could get words out. "Son— Eugene. I had intended to talk with her first. Get her to agree to the priest's testing. Hector— he—"

"He what, dad? He tried to  _ fucking _ rip her clothes off and you stood by and _let_ it happen. What on earth kind of explanation for that can you offer that doesn't make it a thousand times worse than the reality of it? In what world is that okay?" Eugene could feel his already tenuous grasp on his temper slipping. "You know what? Don't answer that. Because I'm pretty sure any answer you give me would only make me madder than I already am."

He stepped away from the edge and faced his father, resting a hand on the hilt of his sword. "You want her to agree to the testing? You apologize. You apologize for even thinking bringing that feral lunatic here was a good idea. You plead for her forgiveness. Whether she gives it to you or not is her choice, and nothing I would even try to influence." Eugene squared his shoulders. "Also— I'm saying this not as your son, but as captain of the Corona Guard— keep Hector away from Cassandra. I will not take responsibility for what happens if he comes within fifty feet of her again. If she doesn't cut him into hash, I will."

Eugene turned on his heel. “I’ll see you later. I have work to do. And frankly, so do you— on that apology, if you ever actually want a look at that mark.”

He made it all the way down the hall, out of sight of the guards, before he had to stop and lean against the wall, shaking badly. He hoped he hadn’t burned his bridges entirely. He wanted, very badly, to go back to his wife’s room and hide from the world. But duty came first. When he could stop shivering, he pushed away from the wall, squared his shoulders, straightened his rumpled tunic, and forced himself to get to work.

~

The smell of hot food lured her out of a morass of disjointed images and half-remembered words, and Cassandra blinked gritty eyes, trying to remember if her small chamber had ever been  _ this _ bright. “Morning, sleepyhead,” a familiar voice, sweet as birdsong, chirped.

“Raps?” She blinked blearily, and then memory came crashing down around her like waves over rocks, tumbling her defenses like so much flotsam. She drew herself up, fighting the urge to just hide under the covers until the world went away and took the waking nightmare her life had become with it. “Sorry, I should get out of your way.”

“Nope.” Rapunzel plunked down beside her. “We’re having a girl’s day.”

Cass scoffed. “Your last ‘girl’s day’ involved Friedborg and cupcakes and trying to prise your way into trouble.” She sat up, scrubbing at her tired eyes. She hadn’t cried but her eyes felt as gummy as if she had.

“Oh—” Rapunzel’s lips pursed in a startled moue. “Oh, I suppose it did. But no, we’re staying in today, you and me.”

“Raps, no— I already kept you from your duties yest—” Her words were cut off by a finger laid across her lips. 

“Already done, Cass. I sent a message down when I called for breakfast.” Rapunzel waved her hand at a trolley, absolutely overrunning with covered dishes.

“Your husband’s gonna love that. He didn’t even get to sleep in his own bed last night because of me, Raps.” She glanced around. “Where is he, anyway?”

“He left for duty already. And whose suggestion do you think it was?”

“What?”

“He was worried about you too, silly.” Rapunzel bounced back to her feet and went to search the corner of the room filled with her paint supplies. “Ah-ha!” She came up with a paint-spattered board that had been intended for a painting before a spill had ruined it. But it was still useful so she had kept it for other purposes.

In moments, Rapunzel had laid the wooden board between them on the bed and piled it high with foods from the trolley the cook’s helpers had brought up. Cass had to wonder what they had thought to see her curled up in the princess’s bed, but that was a worry for later. For now, she hadn’t had breakfast in bed since— well, since she had broken her foot. And it had been nothing like this sumptuous feast.

And she had to admit, it was nice to sit here, in a borrowed silk nightgown, and nibble on the food the kitchen had generously supplied. As long as she didn’t think too hard on yesterday, she could just  _ be, _ eating and listening to Rapunzel chatter cheerfully.

She had to admit, she startled badly when there was a gentle tap on the door. Rapunzel's hand rested on her wrist and she relaxed, releasing the breath she had been holding. 

"Yes?" Rapunzel called.

Stan's voice came through the closed door. "Queen Arianna to see you, your highness." 

Rapunzel laughed softly, rising and padding over to the door. She opened it to peer at Stan with an amused smile. “Did Eugene put you up to this? It’s my mom, she doesn't need to be announced.”

Stan’s eyes dared past her shoulder to the bed. His mouth firmed. “He said you were not to be disturbed, and that you had to approve all visitors first. Captain’s orders, your highness.”

“Ah—” Rapunzel stepped back, opening the door to allow her mother in. 

Like Stan, Pete peered in as Arianna crossed the threshold. His eyes were worried.

Arianna smiled back at them, closing the door. As soon as it was shut she reached for Rapunzel’s hands. “What was so urgent, my love?”

Rapunzel let her take her hands and used the hold to pull her mother toward the bed. “Come and eat with us.”

“Us?” Arianna’s eyes found Cassandra, sitting on the bed in her borrowed nightclothes.

Cassandra drew her knees up to her chest, hating how vulnerable she felt and  _ herself _ for the weakness. She was a warrior; a knight. She should not be like this.

“What happened?” Arianna’s voice had gone still as an iced over pond and only slightly less cold.

“Raps—” Cassandra’s voice was a plea.

Rapunzel settled her mother on the opposite side of the board and slid onto the bed next to Cass, close enough that her thigh brushed against Cass’s hip. “She has to know, Cass.” she said simply. “Better she hears it from us than from someone else, with details distorted in the telling.”

“You mean the whole castle knows,” Cass buried her face in her knees. “Wanna have Fidella saddled up for me? I hear Arendelle is nice this time of year.”

“Cass, you need a boat to get there.” Rapunzel chided softly.

“We’ll take the long route. It should only take a couple of years to get there.” Cass pushed her face deeper into her knees, hunching her shoulders. “Dad— he’s gonna hear and remember how he  _ never _ thought I was good enough. Maybe he was right.”

“Cass, no!” Rapunzel protested, distraught.

“Cassandra, enough.” Arianna’s voice wasn’t sharp, but there was a note of command in it that made Cassandra still, words freezing in her throat.

“You have always known that isn’t true in spite of the fears that made it easy to believe and listen to lies. Above all else, he is a father— which in itself is not a fault, but as my husband proves, can be a precursor to mistakes. And one of his worst was never letting you know just how much he believed in you.” Arianna’s tone was gentle. “We’ll talk to him later so he knows the truth. But for that to happen, you have to tell me what happened.” she commanded levelly.

Slowly, and as impartially as she could, Rapunzel related the events to her mother. Cass said nothing, hot and cold by turns as the tale unfolded. She hated the weakness that made her want to shrink into herself as Rapunzel spoke. It seemed to take hours to get the details out, but she could still see steam rising out of one of the tea cups when she chanced a wary look at the queen. Arianna’s face gave nothing away as she contemplated the roll in her fingers. Finally she set it aside and rose, moving around the bed to Cass’s other side. “I’m going to touch you now,” she warned, before enveloping Cassandra in a hug.

Cass stiffened before trying to push away. “Your Majesty—”   
  
“Arianna.” 

Arianna held the embrace a moment longer before letting go. She kept one hand on Cass's shoulder and lifted her chin with the other, so they were face to face. “Never think that you can’t come to us for help when you need it, Cassandra, dear.” She gently pushed the curls back from Cassandra’s face.

“I shouldn’t need it!” Cass spit the words out, the dam in her chest bursting. “You made me her knight, I have to be strong. I can’t be _weak!”_ Tears burned in her eyes and bile in her throat.

“Cass—!”

“Being strong isn’t never needing help, Cassandra. It’s picking your battles; knowing when you need that help. You are allowed to be human, weaknesses included.” Arianna’s voice was gentle. She smoothed Cass’s hair again.

“I’m not supposed to be weak—” It was a feeble plea for justification and it shattered like glass on the rock of Arianna’s firm negation. 

“There is no shame in being human, Cassandra.”

“You aren’t weak,” Rapunzel protested, wrapping her arm around Cassandra’s waist. “You are the strongest person I know. Even if he scared you—”

“— _wasn’t_ scared—”

“Even if— you were strong enough to still want to make mincemeat out of him. That’s not weak.”

“You are not weak, Cassandra. You have flaws and weaknesses, but those are what make you human. They do not define you.”

"I hate being like this. I— I'm not—"

"Look at me, Cassandra," Arianna's voice of command did the trick and Cass unwillingly turned to face her. "I do understand, whether you think I do or not.I went through much the same thing when I left my home to come here— leaving all I had known— my family and home. You are adrift, and lost. What he did, atop all the other blows to who you were and what you knew of yourself, stripped you of worse than your clothes, but your dignity— your control. Of course you are going to react badly. Those parts of you had been ripped away, when you were already bleeding from the damage to your world. It is not weakness to be shaken by what happened to you. It takes time to rebuild defenses; to recover." She smiled softly and with such warmth and love that for a moment, Cass wondered if this was what it was like to have a real mother. "And we will be here to help you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully Cass will be more herself soon.
> 
> Next Chapter: Confrontations and apologies begin. Hector discovers what having an alchemist and a former thief mad at you really means.


	8. Heal What has Been Hurt

It had been another mostly sleepless night, though Rapunzel had made up a bed for him out of a cot she’d had one of the maids bring up. Though Cass was steadier tonight, his wife had made it clear to both of them and in no uncertain terms that she wanted them close. Cass had fought with her, insisting she was fine to sleep in her own room, but Rapunzel had put on a mulish look and would not be swayed. Even Cass had to give up the fight eventually.

Eugene yawned as he paced down the corridor, watching the shift change among the guard with a half-smile. They were efficient and practiced, and did not linger to chat, reporting only what needed to be passed on before moving on. He couldn’t take credit for it, though. Cap had been very thorough in training the guard.

**_"YOU SON OF A BITCH!"_ ** The roar practically shook tapestries off the wall and Eugene jumped in the air like a scalded cat. He knew that voice and it was not a wake up call he wanted. He took off running.  _ Oh shit! _

It didn't take long to find them. Cap, face the color of a beet, had Edmund pinned to the wall, both hands fisted in his collar. His face was absolutely murderous.

Eugene thanked whatever that might be listening that his father hadn't drawn a weapon, and had indeed raised his empty hand, making no move to fight back against the man all but throttling him with his own collar. That wouldn’t last long though, not with his own temper and the rage of the man still spitting angry words at him.

_ "Where is he? Where is that bastard who  _ **_dared_ ** _ lay a hand on my little girl!" _

Eugene knew there was next to nothing he could do to calm Cap down. That kind of berserker rage could easily be turned on him. He turned to the two nearest guards, who were watching the confrontation with undisguised glee. He grabbed the one on the left, "You, go get Queen Arianna. On the double, man!" He fixed the other with a stare. "Hope you’re feeling brave! You're helping me keep Cap from killing King Edmund!"

The guard's stubborn expression transformed as Eugene said 'king'. He had been willing to ignore the fight for the sake of Cap and Cassandra, but even he knew what the death of a king could cause. Gulping, he nodded and darted forward to latch onto one of Cap's arms. Cap nearly threw him into the wall before Eugene snagged his other arm, throwing all his weight into holding him. 

Cap's face was a study in betrayed rage, and he bellowed in Eugene's face,  _ "What are you doing? This  _ **_ass_ ** _ let—!" _

"You think I don't know this?" Eugene retorted, his muscles screaming from the effort to hold the other man back. "But letting you kill him is only going to put Cass in a world of hurt! Do you want that for her?"

Cap's infuriated eyes flashed with confusion and his struggles eased. "Cass?" he asked, his voice raw.

"Yes, Cass!" Eugene pressed the advantage while he had it. "Do you really want her mourning you? You know the penalties for murdering royalty!"

Cap stilled, sanity coming back into his face. He was still shaking with adrenaline, so Eugene wasn't about to let him go but instead pushed himself further into Cap's personal space. "I'm sure Cass and I would both prefer not to be made orphans again." He said in a low, urgent voice.

That did it. Like a snuffed candle, all the fight went out of the older man.

Arianna came up just as he convinced himself it was safe to let go of Cap's arm, moving at a clip he'd only seen Rapunzel use in the castle corridors.

She paused, hand to her chest as she caught her breath. "I see you have the situation in hand, Captain." Her voice was mellow and soft, in spite of her winded state.

Cap looked up guiltily. "Your Majesty--"

She rested a hand on his arm. "Stand down. Let's talk about things like reasonable adults, shall we?"

Shamefacedly, he nodded. Arianna smiled at him and stepped around him to address Edmund. He had lowered his hand but was glaring at Cap with beetled brows, seething. “Edmund, calmly now,” she said, unflinching. “I am sure as a father, you can understand his anger.”

Eugene could see the pieces click into place behind his father’s eyes. Edmund, in typical fashion, had not taken more than a passing note of the man Cassandra had called ‘Dad’ and had run to in the throne room. But, it was coming together for him now, considering the murderous rage he’d witnessed seconds ago.

“Dad,” Eugene spoke up. “Please, just let this go. I realize you weren’t ever properly introduced, all things considered. This is Cap; he’s Cassandra’s father.”

“I—”

“You can understand why he’s angry about this, right?” he coaxed, cutting off the protest of fatherhood he could feel Edmund formulating.

Edmund hesitated, looking down at him.

“Right?” Eugene prompted.

Edmund nodded heavily and with a brief bow at Arianna, turned on his heel and strode away, radiating offended dignity.

Cap made an abortive move, halted by Arianna’s hand. He settled, but not without a furious glare after the other man.

Eugene winced. Okay, maybe that wasn’t his _ best  _ rebuttal, but it had kept Edmund from making this into something none of them could come back from. He sagged against the wall, idly rubbing what he was sure was a strained muscle in his upper arm. Cap hadn’t let any of his abilities slip since stepping down. He was still a solid wall of muscle.

“Come. I believe we should talk— and then you should go see your daughter, assure yourself she is alright.” Arianna said into the ensuing silence, tucking her hand into Cap’s arm and pulling him into walking with her. She cast a sympathetic glance back at Eugene and nodded after Edmund, mouthing, “I’ll have a word with him later.”

Eugene held his poise until they were gone and, ignoring the two guards standing by uncertainly, slumped at the foot of the wall. “I’d ask if this could get any worse, but I’m not stupid enough to invite the imps of the perverse to do just that.” He buried his hands in his hair and tugged, sighing heavily.

~

Arianna led Cap to a small antechamber, where she waved off a guard and ushered him inside. There was little there, save for a couple of padded benches, and she pushed him down on one before seating herself on the other. "Calmer now?" She asked.

His sword-hardened hands clenched into fists on his thighs. "Saner, maybe. But there isn't a fiber of me that doesn't want the bastard that touched her strung up by his family jewels."

" _ Ooofff. _ Ouch." Arianna smirked. "Not that I disagree, but still— attacking a king, my friend?"

Cap's shoulders came up around his ears. "Frankly, Your Majesty, I wasn't in the most clear frame of mind."

Arianna chuckled warmly. "How very proper, even if not the words I would have used. Call a tree a tree. You were enraged. You would have happily gutted Edmund if you hadn't been restrained."

"I don't care if she's a woman grown, Your Majesty, she'll forever be my little girl,” Cap replied, knotting and unknotting his fingers together in his lap. “I have always done my best to protect her, from the moment I found her.”

“As any parent would. I am not above that either. I dare anyone to harm Rapunzel in my presence.”

That got a weak chuckle out of him. “I think of him laying hands on her and my blood boils. She’s strong, Your Majesty, she always has been, but—”

“She was put in an untenable situation.” Arianna said, leaning forward to rest a hand on his. “And right now she has had that certainty in her own strength shaken by being unable to strike back as freely as she wished.”

“Majesty?”

“The same as your situation moments ago. Even in her rage, she dared not and  _ knew _ it. Growing up in the intrigues of the court, how could she not? Hector is an envoy, and thus—”

Understanding filled his eyes. “She held herself back from killing him.”

“And that gave him the advantage.” Arianna rose and offered her hand. “Come. She needs the support of those who love her— and know she is not as weak as she fears.”

Cap took her hand and rose. “She has never been weak. She has always had a core as strong as steel.”

“Then remind her of that. She craves those assurances, with her defenses as battered as they are.”

He bowed his head and offered her his arm. Arianna took it. “My daughter has been keeping yours up in her and her husband’s rooms. I think she dreads to let her out of her sight.”

“I can’t blame her.”

“Nor can I.” Arianna said. She paused with a hand on the door. “Understand, I am going to ask you to lay low, as it were, my friend. I will not punish you for acting like a father with a hurt child to protect, but until I can go salve his temper, Edmund will want nothing less.”

“I would dare him to try,” Cap growled. Then he took a deep breath, composing himself. “But I will not do anything to upset the balance. Even if I want to cut him for letting that ass anywhere near her.”

“And for daring to try and claim your child as his.” Arianna tapped the end of his nose with a fingertip. “Don’t think I don’t know how much that plays into it.”

The huff of air was barely a laugh, but she counted it as a victory. “You know me too well.”

“I do. You were still a rank lieutenant when I came to Corona.” Arianna opened the door.

“That was a long time ago.” He escorted her out, the beginnings of a smile tugging at his mouth.

“Long enough for both of us to have children that we should go see.”

“As Your Majesty demands.”

They had made it to the wide, sweeping corridor in front of Rapunzel’s rooms, when Rapunzel opened the door. She smiled reassuringly at the two guards and caught Cass’s arm, tugging her out of the room. Cassandra was dressed in sober black, her only concession to color being the surcoat bearing her new coat of arms as the Princess’s Knight, purple and silver. The unrelieved black made her pale face look even paler, and the two guards looked concerned. 

"Cassandra!" Cap called, brightening.

Her head jerked up like a startled deer and for a second all he could see in her eyes was not the young woman she had become but the frightened child abandoned in a cottage in the woods so long ago. Her whole posture spoke to him of an animal on the razor’s edge of flight.

Then she straightened her shoulders and closed all her emotions off. Her face went blank and the wild look in her eyes was hidden behind a stony stare.

It hurt to see, like a knife to the chest.

Cap broke free of Arianna and took the rest of the distance between them at something that wasn’t quite a run. He swept Cassandra up in his arms, lifting her feet off the floor as he crushed her to his chest. She was tense in his arms, and it broke his heart how long it took her to relax into the hug enough to wrap her arms around his waist. “Dad?” Her voice was quiet, the same defeated tone she had used so long ago when she was to be sent to the convent on Frederic’s orders.

He squeezed her tighter for a moment, only relaxing when he felt the minute release of tension as she sighed. “Honey—” he breathed, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “I’m so proud of you.”

She froze, a disbelieving sound escaping her lips. “How— how could you even—?” Her voice broke.

Rapunzel opened her door wider and gave Cap an ungentle shove in the back. He took the hint and, still cradling Cass to his chest, carried her into the sanctuary of the princess’s room. Rapunzel and Arianna slipped in behind them and the princess firmly shut the door in the worried guard’s faces.

Cap set Cassandra’s feet on the floor and almost immediately had to support her weight as she crumbled. “Please don’t lie like that, dad,” she whispered brokenly, burying her face in his chest.

He brought up one hand to cradle the back of her head. “Sweetheart, what makes you think I would ever lie to you about this?”

A raw sound tore out of her throat, some ugly amalgamation of sob and broken laugh. “Look at me! How could anyone be proud of—” she gestured feebly at her own chest.  _ “— this.” _

“Because I have never  **_not_ ** loved you, Cass, honey.” He said honestly, stroking her hair. “Besides, how could I not be proud of someone who was smarter and stronger than me, even when scared and angry?”

“— what?” she asked faintly.

“Let’s just say, Fitzherbert would have been down a father and I would be in chains and on my way to execution for murdering a King of a neighboring country. You controlled yourself better than I did. I was— not exactly thinking— and very nearly strangled him.”

Cass made a sort of wet scoff, but pulled away to look up into his face. Her eyes were red-rimmed and damp with tears. “I don’t believe that.”

“Believe it.” Arianna said. “I was there watching my son-in-law attempting to talk him down.”

“Dad—?”

“Honey, you are a strong, capable woman, but the part of me that will always be your father— well, that part of me could only see red at the thought of someone hurting you.”

Cass turned her face away. “You  _ never _ thought I was strong enough.”

“Oh, Cassandra, no.” He told her firmly, cupping her jaw and turning her back to face him. “You’ve always been strong, even as a child. Strong enough to scare me.”

She hiccupped a disbelieving laugh, tears wet against his palm. 

“It scared me, because  _ I’m _ not that strong. You were more than capable of taking a place in the guard, and that terrified me— because I knew if you were ever hurt— or-or worse— it would break me entirely. I know that, without a doubt. When I lost you to the moonstone— it very nearly  _ did _ break me. It was only the princess and her absolute certainty that we would get you back that kept me from shattering.” He smiled at Rapunzel, who was biting her lip and trying to hold back her own tears. 

“Dad— Daddy—” Cass wavered for just a moment longer and then wrapped her arms around him painfully tight. A wracking sob escaped her and she buried her face in his shoulder, unafraid, perhaps for the first time in her life, that he would see her as weak.

Rapunzel desperately wanted to go to her, but Arianna stopped her. “Let them be. She needed this catharsis. Let her cry herself out.” Arianna smiled. “I suspect you can pamper her afterwards. As wound tight as she has been, she’s liable to actually want and need the comfort.” 

Rapunzel nodded reluctantly. “What about Eugene’s dad? Is he going to try to get Cap in trouble?”

“That is my next stop. I daren’t let him stew for too long, but this needed doing first. For the both of them.” Arianna cupped Rapunzel’s cheek and let herself out, stopping briefly to reassure the guards that if all was not well, it was slowly getting there.

She knew Edmund had probably retreated back to his guest suite. The guard at the door confirmed it with a nod and she straightened her shoulders and took a deep breath. “Announce me, please.”

He nodded and tapped on the door. “Queen Arianna to see you, Your Majesty.”

There was silence for a moment and then the door opened, but the lean face looking out at her was not Edmund’s. Acid-yellow eyes regarded her for a long moment. “The king isn’t seeing anyone.” Hector said coolly. 

“You’ll forgive me if I say i don’t believe you.” Arianna didn’t use it often but she pulled upon every bit of training she’d ever had at being the aloof monarch, and regally fixed him with an expectant stare. “Please inform him that I wish to speak with him, now.”

He wasn’t cowed. “I said—”

“Ask me if I care.” She interrupted. “You want to play majordomo at the door, then do it and announce me. Before you really begin to annoy me.”

“Let her in, Hector.”

Hector’s lips twitched in a snarl, but he bowed mockingly and backed away from the door, waving her in extravagantly.

Arianna swept past him.

“Hector,” Edmund rumbled from where he was seated by the fireplace. “Go find something to occupy yourself. I think I am in no danger from this gracious lady.”

Hector bowed. “Yes, Sire.” He let himself out, growling at the guard, who glared at him.

“They don’t like him.” Edmund observed.

Arianna seated herself in the chair opposite him. “I fear they are not the only ones. He harmed someone they consider their own.”

Edmund cleared his throat. He didn’t look all that angered, but Arianna knew better than to take it at face value. She folded her hands primly in her lap and waited.

It didn’t take long. “I— begin to think in coming here, I disturbed a hornet’s nest.”

Ah, there it was, the concern under the bravado. “Perhaps not so much in coming, Edmund, but once you arrived, you did more than disturb it. You kicked it and should not be surprised to be stung.”

“He—” Edmund worked his mouth for a moment like he found the taste of the next words not to his liking. “The one who attacked me, he considers himself her father—?”

“There is no consideration about it.”

Edmund frowned. “He is n—”

“I believe I shall join those cross with you if you finish that sentence.” Arianna cut him off. “He  _ is.” _

Edmund said nothing for a moment, so Arianna took it on herself to continue, "Think of how upset you were at the thought of  _ that woman _ stealing a child of yours you didn't  _ even _ know about. Compound that by instead of being an unknown child, one you raised her whole life. That's how he feels about you now. Our former Captain owed nothing to the little girl he found abandoned in the woods, but gave everything for her to be safe and happy. His kindness is the only reason she didn't end up like Eugene, raised alone in the belief no one wanted him. You owe him that much."

Edmund looked taken aback by her vehemence. “I—”

“He has been her father, with all the joys and sorrows that entails, since he found her. And all the love.” Arianna said earnestly. “Edmund, I don’t blame you in wanting to know if you have a daughter— after all, my own daughter was stolen from me as an infant, and I did not get to know her until she was almost a woman. Sound familiar?”

Her little joke got the barest hint of a smile.

“You have to understand that. Those who love her will not give over easily. You have to make an effort to know them, all on your own, to find a place with her.”

"It's not easy," he rumbled thoughtfully, rubbing his chin.

"Love never is." Arianna leaned forward and patted his knee. "But it's worth working for."

"Yes. Thank you, dear lady."

"To that end, though, it is recommended you keep Hector—"

"Away from her. I have been informed." His smile was wry. "Newfound sibling or not, my son is already showing signs of genuine brotherly feelings. I got the full protective mode yesterday."

Arianna chuckled. “They were practically siblings already. Listening to them bicker—” 

Edmund rubbed his forehead. “I— have missed so much of my son’s life— and now hers.”

Arianna leaned back in her chair. “Then let me tell you a story about that bickering— Once upon a time, my very own daughter got tired of their sniping, so she locked them up together in a dungeon cell—”

~

Hector scratched idly at an itchy spot as he strolled out of the castle. It didn’t do him any good as the itch migrated to a place he couldn’t reach. Blast it! 

At first he’d thought that Sturm and Drang had gotten fleas, even though the royal stables were the cleanest he'd ever seen, but the two weren't itching like fleas. 

Regardless, Hector decided to use his newfound free time to go down into the city to have an apothecary compound the remedy for fleas. It wouldn't hurt to dose them, and he'd take a dose himself to rid himself of the blasted itch. Then he'd wash his clothes to get rid of any of the little bloodsuckers that might have made a home there.

Himself, since pretty much every maid in the palace was avoiding him like he was carrying the plague. They seemed to vanish the moment he came near. To that end it took almost an hour to find an open courtyard strung with clothesline and filled with linens flapping in the gentle sea-breeze. It was mostly empty of people, though, basins of hot water abandoned with clothing still in them and fires to heat the irons left untended. The elderly laundrywoman he finally found sniffed derisively at him and pointed at a tub he could use and then proceeded to ignore him.

Fine. Just to irk her, he stripped to his skivvies right there in the courtyard and dunked every stitch he had brought with him into the hot, soapy water.

"What are you grinning at?" Eugene was taking a turn on patrolling the walls, simply to keep himself from fretting too hard over whether the queen had managed to defuse the situation, when he found Varian casually leaning against the ramparts, looking down into the courtyard where the laundymaids worked. Varian just pointed down to where a mostly unclothed Hector was scrubbing with a will.

"Does he have no shame?" Eugene asked, stepping back so there was no way he could be seen from the courtyard, though someone would have to have very sharp eyes to distinguish him from any of the other guards patrolling the castle walls.

Varian gave him a wolfish grin, all teeth and barely covered malice. He reached into a pocket of his vest and pulled out a tiny glass vial, half full of some colorless dust. 

As Hector stopped to scratch furiously at his forearm, Eugene hummed. "Itching powder? Nice. But he seems to be ahead of you there."

Varian's smile morphed into something darker. "A little variant of my own. Adding water makes it worse. Even soap isn't going to help. He'd have to boil everything for a couple of hours to get rid of it..."

Letting a vindictive smile play over his face, Eugene saluted his partner in crime and continued on his rounds, whistling softly under his breath. After this morning, things were looking up at last.

~

Cassandra had finally cried herself out and Rapunzel had refused to let Cap carry her off to her own bed. She had held the covers back on her own bed and stared him down until he relented, and settled her into the featherbed. “She’s been so stressed—” she whispered. “It’s no wonder she’s tired.”

“I can take her to her room.” Cap rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “I’m not sure how appropriate it is for a princess—”

“Ah-ah,” Rapunzel scolded. “She’s my best friend, and rank has nothing to do with it. Besides, she’s landed and titled now, so—” she stuck out her tongue. 

Cap looked startled, and finally chuckled. “I’m not going to win against you, am I?”

“Nope.”

Sighing, he brushed the curls away from Cassandra’s tear-stained face. “I— can’t tell you how much it scares me that he’s come here claiming my daughter as his own. Not so very long ago she was hunting some destiny and suddenly here he is, with a throne and a birthmark and suddenly she can see that shining destiny... and I could end up losing her again.”

“She’s not going to leave you.” There was absolute certainty in Rapunzel’s tone. She turned to face him. “And now that it’s staring her in the face, she doesn’t want it quite as much as she thought she did.”

“I wish I had your faith, Princess.”

“It’s okay. I have enough for both of us.” She smiled at him. “I’ll look after her. You should go get some rest yourself. She’s staying with me again tonight.”

“Again?”

She cocked her head. “After what happened— well, I wasn’t letting her out of my sight.”

“Should I ask how Fitzherbert feels about that?” He raised an eyebrow.

“He agrees with me. He was worried too.”

“Hrnn.”

“I promise. He was almost as mad at Hector as you.” She turned him toward the door. “Now, you look tired. Go take some time to cool down. Leave Hector to us though.”

“I know. Your mother already reminded me that my daughter has better self-control than I.” He bowed to her. “Thank you for looking after her.”

“I couldn’t do anything else.” She impishly kissed his cheek. 

Cap sighed as the door closed behind him. He wanted—

"Um, sir? Could we have a word with you?"

His shoulders feeling like the entire weight of the castle rested on them, Cap turned. Two guards stood behind him. He recognized one of them as the one who had helped Eugene restrain him. They almost automatically snapped to attention, and he scoffed under his breath. "I'm not your captain anymore, you don't have to come to attention or call me sir."

"Begging your pardon sir, but you are an advisor to the captain of the guard and that's kind of who we need to talk to you about."

Now they had his undivided attention. "What about him?"

"Well, obviously enough you know about what happened, but—"

Cap listened to what they had to say about their Captain and the toll the events were taking on him. They ended with his collapse in the hall and Cap felt a familiar sensation curl in his gut. Caught between love and duty... It was a feeling he was  _ intimately  _ acquainted with.

"Thank you," he said at last. "I'll speak to him."

They both saluted. "Thank you, sir."

He snorted. "I told you, not in your chain of command anymore. You don't have to call me sir. You can use my name."

He nodded to them and turned away, mind already busy.

"Do you even know his name?" He heard one of them ask the other.

"I don't think I ever did. We always just called him Captain, or sir. Sometimes Cap."

~

Eugene was on his way to see if his wife knew if her mother had managed to calm things down when Pete came trotting up, puffing. He came to a halt and saluted. “Um, sir, the Capt— the former Captain asked me to find you, said he wanted you to report to him at the barracks.”

Eugene almost groaned.  _ What now? _ “Thank you. Hopefully nobody is dead.”

"You wanted to see me, sir?" Eugene asked, walking stiffly into the Guard Barracks, as if he were a raw recruit and not the Captain.

The former Captain sighed. "Sit down, Fitzherbert," The man quickly complied, which was quite unlike him.  _ Of course he's spent months dancing over proverbial minefields, he's probably desperate at this point not to set something off. _ "I've realized there's something about this job I should have told you before I handed you the helmet."

He took a deep breath. "This job is sacrifice. You know that. We risk our lives to keep Corona, its royal family, and its people safe. What I failed to impart on you is that sacrifice  _ does _ have limits. I stepped down rather than have to be caught between my duty and family. There was no shame in it." And thank goodness he didn't take that job back afterwards or he would be the one dealing with this particular charlie foxtrot. "You're caught between two sides of family and duty. It's enough to drive a man spare. And now I find out Cassandra's been spending the evening in the room you share with your wife."

"Sir, I would never— she's my  _ sister!" _ Eugene sputtered, eyes gone wide. The denial was artless and utterly honest.

"If I thought for a moment that was happening we'd be having a very different conversation. No, What I think this means is you haven't been sleeping in your bed. Have you even been sleeping?"

"There's a chair, it was good enough." Eugene mumbled. “And Sunshine got me a cot.”

Captain sighed and pointed to the beds behind him. "Sleep."

“Sir?”

“You took me on as your advisor, son, and my advice is this; sleep.”

Eugene found his feet moving toward the bunk before his mind could catch up. He tried one more feeble protest that didn’t even make it past his lips before there was a firm hand on his shoulder, pushing him to lay down. “Let tomorrow take care of itself for a few hours, Fitzherbert. You can afford a few minutes to take care of  _ yourself.” _

~

After his nap, Eugene took a little more of Cap’s advice and simply went up to the room he shared with his wife (and temporarily, Cass) and left things to deal with themselves for a while. He'd eaten dinner with Rapunzel and Cass in private, very deliberately not asking about Cass’s bloodshot eyes. Rapunzel still wasn't letting Cass out of her sight and he dared not imagine the bloodshed had Cass attended a formal court dinner with Hector, Edmund and the priest (whose name he still hadn't gotten) also in attendance. 

Afterwards, Rapunzel had kissed him sweetly and said she and Cassandra were going out to Xavier's forge to pick up something and she'd see him later in the evening. He told her to take Maximus. He wouldn’t have to worry about either of them with the guard horse along. 

He had gone back to his office to work on some routine paperwork after they left, when Varian slipped in silently.

"Worked perfectly," the alchemist reported with a sly smile. "He was scratching so much at dinner that no one wanted to be anywhere near him and I heard Duchess Evangeline ask your father if it was really necessary to bring his pets to the table. Edmund thought she was talking about Hamuel, of course."

Eugene laughed with delight. "Sounds like him. Did anyone notice anything?"

"Nah," Varian flipped a gloved hand nonchalantly. "Considering most of them saw him arrive with those— what-are-they called-again?"

"Dunno. I called them any number of things. Mostly a pain in my ass while they were trying to eat me. I don't even know where they come from." Eugene shrugged.

"Anyway, they think he has fleas."

"Color me surprised. How long is that stuff going to last?"

"If I don't reapply it, it'll wear off by sunrise." Varian shrugged sheepishly. "My first batch was— kinda permanent. But don't worry, I gave Old Lady Crowley the antidote— when I figured out how to make one. She was only itching for maybe two months."

Eugene rolled his eyes.

"Anyway, I had a couple of the guards talking about the training grounds where Hector could hear, and I know he looked interested, so for our next number— there's a couple of things you should do. Also, a solid alibi would be good. So—"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Edmund tries to do something right. Hector still needs a leash. We find out about why exactly Eugene was abandoned in an orphanage. Cass needs a stiff drink.


	9. The Fate's Design

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, I did not draw out a family tree of the dark kings. You can't prove it.

Another early morning and Eugene wasn’t happy about facing it. At least the nap, combined with what sleep he had gotten in his makeshift bed had left him feeling less like something the vultures should be circling, even if he was still a bit foggy-headed at this hour. He’d washed up and put on his uniform and slipped out all without waking his wife or Cass. 

He was halfway to the training field for morning drills with the recruits when a heavy hand landed on his shoulder and Eugene yelped, jumping nearly a foot and grabbing for his sword. The nearest guards whirled and came towards him with halberds at the ready. Eugene turned to see Edmund raising his single hand as if to show he meant no harm.

Sucking in a gasping breath and trying to slow the hammering of his heart, Eugene stayed the guards by raising a hand of his own. “Not my favorite way to get my brain awake, honestly,” he grumbled. Stepping back to give Edmund a cool stare, he waved the guards off and folded his arms across his chest. “Can I help you with something?”

Edmund winced at the tone. “Would you believe me if I came to say I was sorry?”

“It’s a start,” Eugene admitted. “But I’m not the one you should be apologizing to.”

“I’ll settle for a start,” Edmund managed a small smile. “I did not— keep as tight a leash on Hector as I should have. I should have known he would go out of his way to enact his own attempt at petty revenge both for the defeat she handed him and controlling him with the Mind Trap.”

“Hell! What the fuck is this, a round of payback poker? You and now  _ him?  _ Stack the deck and see how many ways you can piss her off before she snaps? She’s done her penance, okay? She knows she fucked up, letting that demon get into her head! She—” Eugene cut himself off. Edmund didn’t need to know Cass had died to help defeat Zhan Tiri. It wasn’t his place to tell. He remembered seeing her sprawled lifeless on the ground and suppressed a shudder. “She paid for her sins— her crimes, more than she should have had to.”

“I— I should like to know more— if you are willing to talk to me. I would like to know what you know about her. Please?”

“Parts of the story aren’t mine to tell, but I’ll tell you what I can. Remember the pub— the Snuggly Duckling? I’ll meet you there about lunchtime.”

“Thank you, son.”

It had taken the better part of one of Lance’s delicious meals and two mugs of ale to relay as much of Cass’s story as he felt comfortable in sharing, with the occasional interjection from Lance, (and Shorty— of all people) to his father. He pushed his mug away. He’d tried to be absolutely fair in his retelling, neither glossing over the bad parts nor emphasizing them. Though he knew he had left out more than he shared. 

It wasn’t his place to talk about some things.

Edmund stared into his mug like it might hold secrets that he needed long after Eugene had pushed his own away. “Thank you for this. I have missed so much of both of your lives.”

“You know I used to be mad at you for that— No, furious, to be honest. But I understand about duty coming first. Though I wish you had made a bit more effort to see I was taken care of, rather than dumped off at the first orphanage they found.”

Edmund scowled. “If I ever get my hands on that wretched nursemaid—” He thumped a fist on the table. “She was supposed to take you to Ingvarr. We have relatives there who would have taken you in. It was Quirin who first sent me word of you, years later, when he saw you as a child at the orphanage. I would have begged him to take you in but his wife was pregnant and ill, and after Melisande's illness— I could not put that burden on him in good conscience.” 

Eugene blinked, dumbfounded. This was the first he’d heard that he was supposed to be sent to kin in Ingvarr. Or that he even  _ had  _ kin in Ingvarr. “Eh—?” he managed weakly.

“I sent you off with some of the gold from the royal vault, in the care of what I thought was a loyal nursemaid.” Edmund growled low, his fist clenching around the mug so tight that it was starting to crack. “She was supposed to take you there and give them the gold in payment for your care.”

Eugene swallowed heavily. “I’m guessing she took the gold and ditched me to run off somewhere with her ill-gotten gains.”

Edmund was fuming silently. “I should have sent Hector to hunt her down.” 

Eugene chewed on his lower lip. “That might be something to consider still doing, if you manage to convince Cass to come to the Dark Kingdom. The less she has to deal with him—” Eugene looked down at his own hand. When had he clenched it into a fist? “I wouldn’t mind a word with her  _ myself.” _

Edmund looked up to give him a smile that was chilling in its bloodthirstiness. “I think that’s a grand suggestion, my son.”

Eugene offered his hand with a grim smile of his own. “Wonderful.”

Edmund, still smiling, shook his hand.

“But that means you apologize to her, if you ever hope to get her there.” Eugene reminded him.

There was a resolute look in Edmund’s deep-set eyes. “I’ll work on it.”

It was right after they made it back to the palace, and he to his office for yet another round of the endless paperwork, that he was told that Hector had indeed asked for permission to use one of the guards' training areas for some exercises. Eugene had been careful to remark, even as he was approving the request for tomorrow, that maybe that could keep Hector out of his hair and far away from Cass for a bit. He did so loudly, knowing Hector was close enough to hear.

He'd also done as Varian asked, though for the life of him, Eugene couldn't figure out why Varian had asked him to leave hatches to the palace rooftops unlatched. It wasn't until the next day, when he'd seen a familiar red head of hair ducking behind a chimney that he had some idea what his partner in crime was up to. Though why he'd wanted Angry and Catalina on the roofs, Eugene wasn't asking. Plausible deniability after all. 

Besides, he had a meeting to attend. Ah, and there was the last piece now...

"Hey Dad, you got a minute?"

"For you, son? Of course." Edmund turned and grinned, seemingly delighted that Eugene sought him out.

"I'm about to have a meeting with King Frederic over guard patrols on trade routes." He was careful to use Frederic's title rather than father-in-law, while being more familial with Edmund to distance the idea of Corona taking his family as its own. "And I was thinking you're going to have to be setting up a royal guard on your own and cover this sort of thing. So I thought maybe we could work on it together?"

Edmund's grin nearly split his face. It was drudge work, true. But drudge work that Eugene could do alone. He was asking Edmund to spend time with him, to be in his company. Not to mention if they did cover trade routes of the Dark Kingdom it might give Eugene a small connection to his home country. Maybe he was one step closer to being forgiven— by his son, at least. His daughter was still a work-in-progress, but he would work at that too. "Of course, son. Nothing would make me happier."

Eugene wasn't out there when it happened, in said meeting with the king and his father, but he'd gotten a full, gleeful report from Stan and Pete, who had been assigned to watch Hector, that apparently some large seabirds had taken extreme exception to Hector and had shat all over him and the training field, which had added more amusement to the guards morning as the Brotherhood member had slipped no less than three times in slimy, smelly bird droppings.

He ran into Angry in the hall, with a satisfied look on her face and a rather odorous slingshot in one hand. He quietly advised that she take the tunnels out to avoid running into any other guards.

He'd have to ask Varian about those  _ 'seabirds' _ later, he thought, hiding a grin. 

~

“Son—”

Eugene looked up from the paperwork spread over the deck of the office he had inherited from the former Captain of the guard. “Oh, hey, you’re just in time. I think I’ve worked out the kinks in having patrol routes between the Dark Kingdom and here. If we set up a shared outpost on the border here—” He tapped a finger on the map holding place of honor square in the center of the desk.

“Speaking of being a go-between, do you think you could set a meeting up with your— Cassandra for me? I need to—” Edmund trailed off, looking away sheepishly. He harrumphed, rubbing nervously at the shoulder of his missing arm.

Eugene’s voice chilled a tiny bit. “It better be that apology you owe her, or it’s a no.”

It was a shallow nod, but a nod all the same. Edmund wasn't meeting his eyes.

“I can make it happen, but I can’t promise she’ll listen to you if you don’t have a damn-fine apology ready to go. She’s— Cass has never been a very patient person.” Eugene folded his arms on the desktop and regarded Edmund levelly.

“I gathered that. It seems she got that from me, while you got all of your mother’s patience.”

“Gods, that is weird. I still can’t believe that she could really be my sister— I mean I always said she was like one, but—” Eugene shook his head.

"Please, son, allow me a chance to make this right— or as right as I can."

Eugene scrutinized him for a moment. "If you can be that contrite to Cass, you might just get her to listen. But— I'll be honest— don't expect forgiveness. Cass can hold a grudge until it screams for mercy. She was never too fond of Hector, considering what happened at the Great Tree. This— well, there’s no forgiveness for this. Not from her, not from me. I know he’s one of the brotherhood, but it would be best if he was far,  _ far  _ away from anywhere either of us are.”

Edmund ruminated over that for a moment. "Perhaps if I send him home with the priest after we have verified the mark—?" He ventured.

"You might want to lead with that. She'll be inclined toward anything that gets rid of him faster." Eugene admitted frankly.

Decisively, Edmund nodded. "I'll do it. Please, if you would, see if she will meet with us."

"Us—? Dad—" Eugene raised his hands in a negating motion. 

"You and I, Eugene. She— from what I have been told, she trusts you. Having you there— can only help."

"Trusts me? Ha—!" Scoffing through his nose, Eugene leaned back in his chair to crack his back. "Having Rapunzel there is more likely to help than me."

"I fear your wife is less likely to help me plead my case, son. Old fool I am but not fool enough to not see the anger hidden in her eyes."

Eugene pondered that for a moment. "You might be right. Sunshine takes harm to people she loves on a personal level. And don't  _ ever _ doubt that Hector's actions were harmful. I saw Cass afterwards."

“Did— did he hurt her?”

“Yes, just not physically. Dad, you have to know that! Cass is— she’s one of the strongest people I know, but being treated like that shook her very badly.”

Edmund looked ashamed. “Do— do you think she will ever forgive me?”

“I can say with all honesty that I don’t know. Cass— she can hold on to a hurt for a very, very long time. Her taking the moonstone was proof of that. She spent a long time being overlooked— or being told she wasn’t good enough.” Eugene leaned back in his chair. “So once you verify the birthmark, I suggest you be very careful of how you treat her. She has ways to hurt you. And if she doesn’t, my wife will.”

“Let me guess, if there’s anything left of me after they get done, you will?”

“Were I talking about anyone other than those two, I would say that. However—” Eugene let his voice trail off meaningfully. “I’ll get you your meeting, but what you say is the only thing that can keep her listening, so it better be good.”

After Edmund took his leave, Eugene regretfully pushed away from the desk. This was going to be fun.

He was on his way to the east tower in the hopes of finding his wife when he felt a presence behind him. His instincts screamed  _ enemy!  _ and he turned, palming a dagger.

Which he immediately lowered, cursing under his breath. "Hector," he said flatly.

Hector stood close enough to touch, looking freshly showered if the wet hair was any indication, looking down at the dagger in Eugene's hand with something approaching amusement. "You don't like me much, do you, Princeling?"

It took every ounce of self control for Eugene not to roll his eyes. "Of course I don't. And don't call me that." He sheathed his dagger with a little more force than necessary.

Hector raised his eyebrow. Apparently he was expecting him to deny it or something. 

He seemed to be waiting for a reply, so Eugene took a chance on venting his spleen. "When we first met you, you risked taking the spear of Demantius in order to kill my beloved. Then you show up here and attempt to forcefully tear someone who might be my sister's pants off. I don't care that you wanted to see the mark, that is unforgivable to do to  _ anyone!" _

Eugene throttled his temper down, even as Cass's wary (and, yes, frightened) eyes flashed in his memory. "But doing it to the possible daughter of your  _ own liege _ while in another kingdom that she's specifically under the protection of? That's a special kind of twisted." Eugene leaned in close, staring into Hector's acid-yellow eyes. "So yes, I dislike you. Honestly I  _ despise _ you. And I can't do anything about it, because of how messed up the situation already is. But at the very least I can find some peace in that the fates seem to despise you just as much." He spat, turning on his heel and striding away. His skin crawled.

He finally found his wife and her shadow in one of the sunny solars, where Rapunzel was engaged in painting a portrait of Cassandra, clad in her finery as the Princess’s knight and sitting astride a hassock like she might mount a horse. Leaning over his wife’s shoulder, Eugene found that she had sketched a rough draft of Fidella under Cass. He kissed Rapunzel’s cheek before saying regretfully, “Sunshine, do you think I can borrow your model for a bit?”

“It can’t be for too long or I’ll lose my light,” She pouted playfully up at him. “And then I’ll have to wait until the day after tomorrow. I have court duty tomorrow.”

“Might have to then, sweetheart. Not sure how long this will take.”

Cass had risen from her ‘mount,’ her expression quizzical. “What is it?”

“Can we talk in private, Sunshine?”

“Oh— Um— right. Give me a second.” Rapunzel’s green eyes were worried. She packed up her painting supplies and hurried over to press a kiss to Eugene's lips.  _ "Please don't upset her again," _ she breathed against his mouth, barely audible.

_ "No promises," _ he answered the same way.

Casting a last concerned look at Cass, Rapunzel left.

"You're worrying your wife," Cass accused as the door shut behind her.

“I know,” Eugene muttered. “Believe me when I say I’ve got way more worries than just that, though.”

Cassandra huffed air through her nose at him and settled in a chair, propping her booted feet up on the hassock that had been her stand-in mount. 

Eugene studied her for a moment. “You seem—”

“Better?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

“More like yourself,” he concluded.

Cass glanced away. “Look, you know I’m not one to talk about my feelings, but yeah. I’m feeling more myself today. It helps when certain people—” She gestured at the now-closed door. “—won’t let you brood on things. Also when they are princesses who can gift you with the prettiest new deadlies.” She twisted a wrist and a needle-thin throwing dagger dropped into her palm. She held it up to the sunlight to admire for a moment before returning it to its hiding place in her sleeve.

“Let me guess, that was the reason for the excursion to Xavier’s the other day.”

“Part of it, yes.” Cass folded her arms and stared up at him. “But you didn’t chase your wife out to hear about her shopping trip. What is it?”

His heart took up residence in his stomach as he regarded her. Despite her seeming ease with him, there was still a wariness in the way she held herself and shadows beneath her eyes. And he was afraid bringing this meeting up would definitely do what Rapunzel had asked him not to do.

“Okay, all this hemming and hawing is starting to worry me too. Is it that bad?” Cass was regarding him steadily. Already her posture was a little more defensive, her knees drawing up and her shoulders pulled in.

“Look, Cass— you’ve had enough shit thrown at you the past couple of weeks, so excuse me if I don’t want to add to it.”

Her shoulders tightened, and Eugene wanted to curse at his wayward mouth. “Spit it out, Fitzherbert.”

Somehow, her retreating into the old snark from when they had been— not enemies— but truly at odds, gave him the courage to go on. “Edmund wants a meeting with you. To apologize.”

That did it. Her eyes went back to that same half-wild expression, like a wolf forced into a corner and ready to lash out.

“Just him,” Eugene was quick to clarify, raising both empty hands in an instinctive response to her look. “I swear. No priest. And I plan on keeping Hector as far away as possible.”

“The sun wouldn’t be far enough,” Cass muttered. But her shoulders came down out of her defensive posture.

“If you want me to be there, I will.” Eugene offered. “Dad asked me to be there, but I want it to be your decision to have someone there. If you’d rather have Rapunzel instead, I’ll ask her.”

“Oh,” She looked surprised and some of that hunted look faded from her eyes. “Wouldn’t it be a conflict of interests for you?” She asked cautiously. “I mean, it’s in your interest to have me gone. And well, frankly, he’s your dad, so there’s that.”

Eugene shook his head. “I’m not going to be there to argue his interests or mine— though I’d really like to know where you got the  _ asinine _ idea that I’m trying to get rid of you— but to be certain he apologizes and try and be a voice of reason— no comments from the gallery please.”

Cass shook her head and stood up, moving to the window to stare out at the sky. When a moment went by without her replying, he stepped a little closer. “Look, Rapunzel is happiest when you’re around. Trust me on that, I got the whole mopey wife aspect whenever you left again after one of your visits, so the very last thing I want to do is be rid of you. Besides, I always said you were like a sister to me— and that was before I found out that you actually might be.”

“I’ve seen siblings that hate each other,” she said, but the smallest of smiles was tugging on her lips.

“I prefer to think of our relationship as sibling rivalry at its finest.” Eugene retorted, reassured.

“Not a glowing recommendation, Fitzherbert.”

"Are you willing to give him a chance to apologize?" Eugene asked. "I definitely don't agree with all his choices, least of all the one to bring crazy rhino man, but he seems to really want to apologize, at least."

The silence stretched far too long for his nerves. "I can't promise I'll accept what he has to say, but I'll listen,” she sighed at last, raising a hand to rub at her forehead.

Relief washed through his veins. "That's all he asks."

She turned to fix him with her trademark deadpan stare. "You better keep a leash on him, though."

He blinked. "You want me there?"

"I refuse to deal with the crazy on my own."

Eugene chuckled. “Deal.” He offered his hand, pleased when she took it without flinching. “When do you want to meet with him?”

She glanced out at the bright early-afternoon sky. “Well, looks like Raps has lost her light by now, so let’s get this over with.”

“Now?” Eugene all but yelped. “Are you sure?”

She looked at him with brutal honesty. “No. To be dead honest, the very thought is making me sick to my stomach.” She shivered, her eyes looking wary and frightened again. “But the longer I have to brood on it, the less likely it is I’ll ever go. He was  _ there, _ and he—” 

“Did nothing,” Eugene finished for her. “I’m not asking you to forgive him that, Dragon Lady. But let him try to make amends at least.”

“I  _ am  _ trying,” she growled, fingers tightening on his. “It’s just not easy for me. So,  _ please, _ let’s do this before I lose my nerve and my breakfast.”

Eugene nodded and carefully tucked the hand he still held in the crook of his elbow. "I think he headed to the library. If he's not there maybe someone there knows which way he went."

Cass nodded grimly.

A little surprised Rapunzel wasn't hovering outside the door, Eugene spoke to the nearest guard. "Find Hector. Make sure he's kept busy and far away from the library."

"Sir!"

Cass looked sideways at him for a long moment before the corner of her lips lifted the tiniest bit. "Smooth. I'd almost think you were trying to protect me."

"Pfffttt," Eugene snorted. "You never needed anyone to do that, Dragon Lady. You did it fine all on your own."

It was almost a laugh, the sound she made. But it was a good sign, Eugene thought. At least he hoped it was.

Cass's fingers spasmed on his arm as he opened the library door, but she stepped through with him without faltering.

At one of the large oak tables, Edmund sat, paging through a thick volume on the table. He seemed absorbed in it so Eugene cleared his throat softly. "Dad?"

Edmund's head snapped up and his dark eyes focused on them.

Cassandra didn't flinch, but her fingers were painfully tight on Eugene's arm.

Edmund rose slowly from his seat and stepped toward them, stopping several paces from her. He was studying Cass like she was something he could not put a name to, but was priceless nonetheless. His eyes were surprisingly soft.

Cass twitched beside Eugene and that wildness was back in her gaze.

Ponderously, Edmund took one step forward and dropped to his knees with a thump, head bent. "I know I don't deserve it, but I beg of you to forgive a lonely old man his foolishness."

Cass's breath hissed between her teeth and she took a startled step back, her shoulder pressed against Eugene's.

"I nearly lost my son twice," Edmund continued, his face downturned. His tone was soft and wavered a little. "And the thought of losing my daughter before I even properly knew her made me hesitate when I should have taken action."

Cassandra was shaking beside Eugene and he finally dared to pat the fingers gone white-knuckled on his arm. 

"You haven't even got proof that I'm— that I'm of royal blood, yet." Her voice was ragged and uncertain.

Edmund looked up at last and dared a tentative smile. "No, but I have some very good indications."

"Oh—?" Cass wavered. Her look had melted into more uncertainty.

Edmund pointed to the book on the table he'd been looking at when they came in. He did not rise, so Cass cautiously ventured over to the table, Eugene staying close beside her.

The pages of the book were heavy-weight vellum, and each one held a highly-detailed portrait. The one it was turned to was enough to make her gasp. The man looked enough like Eugene to have been a close relative, but the woman whose hand he held— 

If the painter had been accurate, her eyes were the same stormy gray as Cass's. Black hair ran down to her midback in a riot of curls and though her jaw line was a lot stronger, she could have passed for an older Cassandra, right down to the very same half-smile that Cass habitually wore whenever she was with Rapunzel.

"Hella of Ingvarr. My grandmother." Edmund said.

Cass was shaking her head even as Eugene breathed, "She looks just like you."

"No." She let go of his arm and backed away from the book like it might bite her. Her legs wobbled dangerously and she grabbed for the back of a chair, clinging to it with white-knuckled hands.

"Cass?" Eugene asked cautiously. 

Her white-rimmed eyes darted to him and then to Edmund, who remained kneeling on the floor, watching her with hopeful eyes.

_ "I'm not a princess—" _ she said, more a cry of denial than statement.

"Hey—" she hadn't heard Eugene use that tone with her before, though it sounded similar to one he used with Rapunzel when she was overstressed. "Princess or not, Cass, you are still you. It doesn't change the fact that you are Cassandra of Corona, Princess's Knight and Rapunzel's best friend. You're still the Dragon Lady who lives to give me a hard time. You're still you, just like I was still Eugene Fitzherbert, reformed thief, even after I learned about this." Unconsciously, his hand went to touch where the birthmark was. Almost unwillingly, her hand drifted to hers in a mirror of his movement.

She shivered as her fingers brushed fabric. For a moment she looked terribly vulnerable again. "I—" Her eyes cut back to the book on the table and she took an unsteady step back towards it.

"Cassandra—" Edmund said softly. "Please, child— I know I have done wrong by you, but at least let me begin to make amends by proving I can do my best to earn back your trust. I— As soon as the priest verifies the mark I will send him and Hector back to the Dark Kingdom and far away from you. I swear that I will find a suitable punishment for what he did to you, but that you will not have to see him again. Ever, if you so wish."

A feverish light lit her eye and she turned her attention to Edmund. "You'll get rid of him?"

"Not permanently, Cass," Eugene interjected.

"For now, getting him out of Corona will be enough. Believe me when I say I will happily kick his ass from here to Koto later, but just get him away from me until I am in a better frame of mind to deal with him." Cass's hand twitched and one of her new daggers dropped into it. "Because if he remains here he is going to wind up very messily and bloodily dead, damn the political ramifications."

"You can take however long you need before letting the priest verify the mark, but as soon as he has, Hector goes with him back to the Dark King—"

"If it gets him out of Corona we can do this right now." She interrupted with a feral grin.

"Today?" Edmund startled, hefting himself up from the floor. Cass was so worked up, she didn't flinch this time.

"Now?" Eugene asked.

Cass bared her teeth in something that wasn't a grin. "Right now."

Edmund looked a little dumbstruck, but happy. "Let me go find the priest. Where—?"

"Not the infirmary," Eugene objected, still baffled, but willing to try. "I don't even want to remember what happened last time and—"

Cass shook herself like a duck shedding water. "If she's okay with it, I want Rapunzel there too, so, her room?"

"Works for me. Are you sure you're not rushing into this, Cass? I mean, Hector notwithstanding, the whole memory—"

Her eyes met his and for a second he could see her turmoil of thoughts, behind the bright half-mad spark kindled by the thought of being free of Hector. Her voice dropped down to a whisper. "That's why I want her there. I—"

"I'm sleeping on the cot again tonight, got it."

Her muscles loosened, and she smiled at him gratefully.

Eugene sucked in a deep breath. "Well, go round up your man, Dad. Cass and I will find Sunshine and meet you in the hall in front of the East Tower."

Still wearing that stunned but happy look, Edmund folded his arm across his chest in a salute and hurried off. The library door closed behind him and Cass sagged like a marionette with cut strings. She dropped into the chair she had used to support herself with a heavy thump. 

Eugene could see her shaking. “Cass, you sure you’re okay with this?”

“I have to be, don’t I? I have to either prove that this is real and I’m a gods-be-damned princess or that it’s a fake and Gothel was even more of a bitch than I thought.” Her voice dipped so low that he had to lean in to hear her. “I just want things to be normal again.”

“Don’t we all, Dragon Lady.” Eugene solemnly offered her a hand. “C’mon. Let’s go give my wife fair warning that you’re staying over again tonight.”

The sound she made wasn’t quite a laugh, but she took his hand to pull herself back to her feet. She straightened her shoulders and smoothed a hand down the front of her tunic, frowning as it caught on the crest embroidered there. Her eyes went stormy and troubled again.

“What is it?”

“I—” She shook her head. “Now’s not the time. Let’s do this before I lose my nerve.”

“I’m getting it out of you, later. Or Sunshine will. We discussed this.” Eugene shot her a stern look, mollified when he got a familiar glare in return.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. No more hiding things and stewing over them. I remember the intervention, thanks.”

“Funny.”

“Not funny enough to need to hear it again, thanks.” Cass shook herself and curled her fingers around the bottom edge of her tunic. It didn’t help. Eugene could still see them trembling.

Sighing, he offered his elbow with an expectant look.

Cass looked petulant. “I—”

“Spare me the arguments if we want to get to Sunshine before Edmund descends on her.” Eugene snorted. “For once, he’s actually noticed someone is mad at him.”

“Considering it’s Raps, it probably came with a frying pan.”

“Not yet, but it might if we don’t get a move on.”

Grumbling, she accepted his arm. The shaking of her fingers eased and he was struck again by the thought that she  _ really _ did trust him. Whoa. Heady.

They made it to Rapunzel’s room before there was any sign of Edmund or the priest, and Eugene hastened them inside.

Rapunzel was chewing on the end of a pencil, contemplating something in her journal, but looked up with an expression of relief. “Is everything okay? You were gone a lot longer than I was expecting. Is something wrong?”

Eugene raised his free hand to stop the flow of words. “It might be getting closer to okay, sweetheart. But Dad is on his way up with that priest of his. Cass agreed to let him test the mark.”

“You did?”

Cass let go of Eugene’s arm and caught Rapunzel’s arm. “Anything to get this over with, Raps. I want— well, a lot of things, but first and foremost, I want Hector gone, and Edmund’s agreed to ship him back with the priest as soon as the mark is either verified or not.”

Rapunzel clasped her hands. “Okay. That I can understand, but are you sure you’re okay?”

“Not really, but—”

“She wanted you to be here during it, Sunshine.” Eugene added, opening the door and peering out. “And hope you’re both ready because I see them coming.”

“I think I’m going to throw up—”

“Aim at the priest, not Dad, please. I can’t take another confrontation right now.”

“Shush, both of you. Cass, go into the bathroom, drink some water and sit down. You look like you are going to pass out. Eugene, stop looking like you did something wrong and get over here to greet your father.”

Cass all but dived for the bathroom door and Eugene reluctantly came to stand beside Rapunzel. She smoothed his collar and then opened the door wide, waving at Stan and Pete to let them know it was okay to let them in.

“Edmund,” she greeted. It wasn’t her usual cheer but Eugene would take it over open hostility.

“Rapunzel. Son.” Edmund’s face creased into a frown as he looked around the room, taking note of the absence of a third person. “Uh—”

“She’s in the bathroom freshening up,” Rapunzel told him. “It’s been a long day already.” She nodded to the silent priest standing behind Edmund. “Will you need anything special, sir?”   
  
He shook his head. “I brought what I need, thank you.” He patted a worn leather pouch tied to his belt.

Rapunzel nodded. “I’ll get Cass.”

Cass was sitting on the edge of the tub, bent over her knees like she really was going to throw up. “I can’t do this—” she mumbled as Rapunzel shut the door behind her.

“You can,” Rapunzel dropped into a graceful crouch in front of her, tipping Cass’s head up to meet her storm-cloud eyes. “I’ll be right here with you. One examination and you’re done. And Edmund said he would send Hector away. Focus on that.”

“I’m still hunting him down later,” Cass grumbled, but her breathing evened out.

“I’ll help.”

That coaxed a breathy laugh out of her, and Cass let Rapunzel tug her to her feet. “We’ll bring Fitzherbert and make a hunting party out of it.”

“My mom and Varian, too. I think they both want a piece of him.”

“There will be enough pieces for everyone after I get done with him.” Cass’s smile was a bit bloodthirsty, but better that than the sick look of a moment ago.

Rapunzel held tight to her hand as she led her back out into the room where the other’s waited. Two small tables had been pulled together to create a makeshift exam table, and Eugene was spreading blankets over it. Cass shivered beside her, but her gaze was steely and determined.

The priest nodded at her. “We’ll need privacy for this, Sire.”

“Right. Eugene and I will wait in the hall.” Edmund clapped his hand on Eugene’s shoulder.

Rapunzel shook her head. “They can wait outside, but I’m staying.” She folded her arms and her look dared the priest to contradict her.

“This magic is not for the uninitiated.” The priest wasn’t intimidated.

“I thought this was an examination of the mark,” Rapunzel tilted her head to look down her nose at the priest. “I don’t recall anything about a spell.”

“The magic is to—”

“I don’t care what it’s for. If you try to do more than examine the mark, I’m leaving and Cass is coming with me. That is non-negotiable.” Rapunzel wasn’t budging.

“There is a ritual to verify the magic in the mark.” The priest retorted. “It is a necessary part of proving the truth or falsehood of the mark. And it is not for those not of the Order.”

“Better make an exception to that, Order man.” Eugene put in, shaking off Edmund’s hand to stand at Rapunzel’s elbow. “You get one shot at this and the princess is in attendance or we box you and the lunatic up and ship you overland back to the Dark Kingdom.” 

“Son, this is not—”

“Begging your pardon, Dad, but this is the way it goes. Rapunzel stays with Cassandra or the whole deal is off.”

Heaving a great sigh, Edmund looked at the priest. “She stays.”

“Sire—”

“Your magic is of no interest to her unless it harms her friend. She will attend.” Edmund declared. “That is an order from your king.”

The priest’s face was hard as stone, but after a long moment, he bowed his head. “As you command, my liege.”

~

The priest pursed his lips as Cassandra scooted away from him on the table. She had consented to this, but she still felt— violated—  _ violated _ was a good word for it, especially when the priest had actually put his cold, clammy hands on her skin. The magic itself hadn’t been nearly as unnerving as those touches.

She was going to borrow Raps’s tub again later and scrub herself raw to get the sensation of his hands off of her.

The priest said nothing until she was re-dressed, ignoring Rapunzel’s looks. Then he opened the door and let in Edmund and Eugene.

"Well?" Edmund didn't hesitate. 

The priest bowed low. "Sire, the mark reads true, she is truly of the line of Dark Kings. And by  _ all _ measurements, the mark she bears is identical to your son’s, without even the slightest variation in size."

Edmund frowned. "How is that possible? There should be some difference even in twins. One of them had to be the firstborn!'

Rapunzel laid a quelling hand on Edmund's arm. "Maybe not." She offered. “They—” She cast an apologetic glance at Edmund. “They had to be cut from the womb, remember? In that case there is no firstborn because they both—  _ emerged _ at the same time."

Edmund blinked terribly saddened eyes at her and glanced back at the priest, who in turn, shrugged. "It is  _ plausible, _ Sire. Twins are rare enough in the royal line, so it might be that they are both equally the firstborn— as it were, for the spell to make the marks identical."

~

"And the result?" Hector had taken refuge in his lord's chambers to try and escape the 'accidents' that had befallen him. Today alone, he had fallen down three flights of stairs. There had been no one near enough to have given him a helpful shove, and he had found no tripwires on the stairs. It had honestly felt like he was slipping rather than tripping. After a skid on a parquet floor in the corridor, he had finally decided that his boots did not agree with whatever they used to polish the floors here and had gone unshod. Then one of the little yappy dogs that some of the noble ladies favored had pissed on one of his bare feet.

At first he'd suspected Eugene had a hand in some of what he had suffered, but when pressed he'd freely admitted his dislike of Hector. The King's son was a wily one, he'd never admit to such if he was actively plotting against him.

"The mark is there, just as on my son. The same size as well. Apparently being twins they both count as firstborn." Edmund didn't want to think on the other reason given, it brought too much grief. 

"So what now?" Two children, both an equal claimant for the throne.

"Now— I can say this. I recognize you were trying to protect myself and the kingdom from deception, and I appreciate that.  _ However—”  _ Edmund's eyes filled with a darkness that bordered on madness.  **_"If you EVER touch my daughter like that again I will rip you to shreds with my bare hand! AM I CLEAR?!"_ **

There were those who wondered why Hector was as loyal as he was to King Edmund, violent and sadistic as he was. The reason was simple. When the situation called for it Edmund could be more ruthless than himself and no threat he made was an idle one. He respected the man for it, even when it was his own head on the chopping block.

Hector bowed. "Never again, Your Majesty."

Edmund turned to stare out the window at the storm clouds rapidly darkening the sky, bellies heavy with rain and rumbling with thunder. “To ensure that, provided the storm has cleared by then, in the morning you will escort the priest home in a balloon graciously provided by our hosts. He has already been informed and is packing even now. I advise you to do the same. You will then aid Adira in ensuring most of the castle is livable, as I intend at least one of my children comes home with me for a time, After that— I have a  _ hunt _ for you.”

Hector had begun to grumble until the murderous tone on the word hunt registered. He grinned. “As you command, Sire.”

~

If he hadn’t been on watch in the wee hours, after the storms had torn through the hills, he never would have seen it; a gray-and-white banded cutout against the night sky. He poked up the fire, knowing the light would be like a beacon to the little creature, not meant to fly at night. It arrowed down out of the dark, damp wings whirring noisily as it fluttered to a clumsy halt. Careful not to frighten it, he scooped up the weary, battered bird and soothed its coos with a gentle scratch. It had a carrier on one leg and there was a tiny scroll in it. With careful fingers, he teased it out and leaned close to the fire to read the neat words scribed on it.  _ “Targets confirmed. Come with all haste.” _

Grinning, he set the bird down on a tossed aside shirt and went to kick the others awake. “Time to get paid, boys.” He chortled in response to sleepy curses and grumbles. “Tonight we ride for Corona!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: The morning after the storm. Hector is to be sent packing. Things do not go according to plan. Eugene proves parkour existed in Corona.
> 
> Fair warning: Next chapter will raise the rating of this fic. Please heed the warnings before reading.


	10. After the Storm, There is No Calm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, I have upped the rating on this fic and added archive warning due to things that occur in this chapter and the next.
> 
> Please heed the warnings for blood and gore, violence, graphic depiction of field surgery, and the brutal deaths of minor characters. If any of this, or a character in extreme physical pain disturbs you, this is not the chapter to be reading.
> 
> (Also apologies to our regular readers who were unaware that this updated last week, for some reason the Archive wasn't showing it as updated in the tag. Hopefully it's fixed now.)

The first loud crack of thunder had made Rapunzel 'eep' and hide under the covers with her.

"We traveled through worse storms than this when we went to the Dark Kingdom," Cass had reminded the lump under the blankets peering at her with wide green eyes.

"But we were on the ground," Rapunzel complained. 

"And we're safe in your room right now." Cass eyed her and wondered where Fitzherbert was, so he could calm Rapunzel down.

"It's up high."

"You are _hardly_ afraid of heights, Raps. I've seen you dance along a tree branch hardly wider than my finger several stories from the ground."

Rapunzel yeeped at a crash of thunder and suddenly Cass found herself with a princess-shaped growth, clinging tightly to her, arms around her waist and face buried in her stomach. "The tower— it used to sway during wild thunderstorms, so much it felt like a ship rocking underfoot. When I was younger, I was always afraid it was going to fall down, but Mo— she just laughed at me. My room doesn't sway like that, but sometimes, when it's storming out, I can almost feel it moving under my feet."

Cass sighed and sheltered Rapunzel under one arm, reminding herself yet again that for all her wishing otherwise Gothel had been no real mother to either of them. "What do you do when I'm not here?"

"Hold onto Eugene, or hide under the covers. Sometimes if it happens during the day, I go down to the ground floor and 'get underfoot'." Rapunzel huffed an offended breath. "Nigel didn't know I could hear him, when he said that."

Cass tugged her upright. "Well, then let's go downstairs."

"But it's the middle of the night."

"Exactly. Nobody to complain about us being underfoot. We can go raid the kitchen until the worst of this has passed."

Obviously, this solution had never occurred to Rapunzel, because grinning, she bounced out of bed and grabbed Cass's hand. "Race you downstairs!"

They had been up until the wee hours, Eugene joining them after having a minor freakout that neither of them were in the bedroom and hunting up and down the entire castle for them, and had climbed back to the bedroom after the worst of the storm had passed in the hours before dawn.

Cass came awake to Rapunzel caroling cheerily as she painted something out on the balcony in the early light. The air still smelled like rain and ozone from the wild thunderstorm last night. 

So what on earth had Rapunzel up and happy this early in the morning? 

Cass glanced over at the cot and saw a snoring lump, so it was up to her to find out. She dragged herself out of bed and over to the balcony, stone damp and cool beneath her bare feet.

"What are you singing about, Raps?"

Rapunzel grinned at her and waved her over to the railing. Cass caught a glimpse of the canvas, something round and purple with the Coronan sun emblem before she saw exactly what Rapunzel was painting. In the courtyard below, workers were scurrying to get a hot air balloon loaded. A crabby Hector was there, looking like he'd much rather be asleep, as well as his two binturongs, which were asleep in a furry heap— and the priest, standing quietly to one side with a bag at his feet.

Cass stared down at Hector, numb.

"He's keeping his promise, Cass. He's sending them home!" Rapunzel sang in her ear.

Cassandra leaned against the railing, her legs suddenly weak beneath her. “He really is—” Suddenly, laughter bubbled up from her chest and escaped, a torrent of half-giddy delight. Rapunzel joined her in the unstoppable giggles. Their laughter woke Eugene, who staggered out to join them, peering blearily down at the activity below.

Hector heard the laughter and turned to glare up at them.

Cass fixed her face into a perfect empty smile and waved jauntily down at him, the very same princessly wave she had helped Rapunzel perfect years ago.

Eugene wasn’t so restrained. He clapped his arm just inside the elbow, quickly raising the clasped arm into an upward fist. Rapunzel didn't know what it meant, but judging by Cass's amused laugh and Hector's extremely sour face, it was probably quite rude.  
  
While Cass and Eugene were chuckling down at Hector, Rapunzel bit her lip. She shouldn’t— she really shouldn’t—

Her fingers crept toward a pot of paint balanced on the stone balustrade. She _really shouldn’t—_

Bright purple paint splattered Hector’s glowering form, the stone pot clanging off the pavement after dumping its contents all over him. Rapunzel stuffed a hand against her mouth and squeaked, “Sorry, it was an accident!” while her husband and best friend nearly fell over laughing.

They managed to stagger back inside, all but holding each other up from the helpless laughter. Rapunzel was bright red, but still laughing. Just seeing Cass this at ease made her giddy. She flopped back down on the bed, pulling both of them with her. For an endless moment, they could only try to get their breath back when one look at each other would start the gales of laughter again. Cass reached out and, still laughing, ruffled Rapunzel’s short hair. “You— you’ve corrupted her, Fitzherbert!” she wheezed.

 _“Moi?”_ Eugene snorted. “Don’t tell me you wouldn’t have done the same thing!”

“Trying not to cause an incident, so no.” Cass reached over Rapunzel’s prone form to poke him in the ribs, eliciting a yelp and more laughter. It was long moments before they could pull themselves together. Rapunzel rang for breakfast for all of them while Cass took first turn in the shower. Unsurprisingly, she took the least amount of time of all of them to get ready, dressed and presentable by the time the food had arrived, damp curls the only indication she had only just gotten out of the shower. She left her chain and surcoat off until they had to leave, draping them over the foot of the bed, next to the day-gown Rapunzel would be wearing.

They settled on an informal arrangement, Cass and Rapunzel seated on the bed with the board between them and Eugene lounging beside the bed in one of the wingback chairs.  
  
“So while we are all up at this gods-bedamned hour, what’s on the docket for the day?” Eugene asked, using a buttered roll as a pointer, to point at first Cass and then Rapunzel.

Rapunzel leaned over and stole a bite of the warm bread, grinning at her husband’s look of dismay. “Well, I have morning court today, so Cass and I are tied up until at least lunchtime,”

“Ugh, boring! What say you play hooky with your two favorite people?”

“I’d love to, sweetheart, but I promised Dad.” Rapunzel popped the last bit of a pastry in her mouth and leaned back on her hands. “Things are, unfortunately, still touchy. Too many shake-ups in too short a time.”

“Yeah, I get that. Well, what about ditching the castle at lunch? We could ride out to the Snuggly Duckling and get Lance to feed us instead of him coming to the castle and mooching off us.”

“That actually sounds good,” Rapunzel turned to Cassandra. “What do you think?”  
  
“I’d hate to miss a meal there, but don’t the two of you want some time without me around? I’ve been practically living up here for— what, almost a week now?” Cass was methodically cutting a slice of melon into smaller and smaller pieces. “I think you’d be sick of me.”

“None of that,” Eugene plucked the knife out of her hand and waggled it under her nose. “Sunshine and I can manage to find time for ourselves—” he cut off her incipient protest. “If and when we need it. No more of the moping. Now, are you up for a ride out there?”

A smile crept across her lips. “Depends on if it’s a race or not.”

“Oh, you are so on, Dragon Lady.”

It felt surprisingly good to find herself falling easily into their normal back and forth banter, and Cass could almost feel her world shifting back into position. She— she could worry about the ramifications of the mark later. For now— this moment— she was where she belonged.

“Aren’t you scheduled at morning court, too, Eugene?” Rapunzel asked, mouth pursed in a thoughtful expression, a bite of scone paused halfway to her lips. 

“Eh, yes and no—” Eugene lifted an hand in a so-so motion. “Not in my capacity as Prince-Consort, no. I’m on the dais in my role as Captain of the guard. Dad— Dad is sitting in on Court this morning.” He cast an uncertain glance at Cass.

She contemplated a moment, toying with a bit of her abused melon. “He’s not going to make a big deal out of it, is he? The mark being verified—?”

“He promised the queen not to.” Eugene confirmed. “I also think your dad’s mad-on put the fear of retribution into him, so—”

Cass found a chuckle. Her dad in a rage was something to behold. While she’d never been the subject of his ire, she had seen it once when a bit of fooling around had sent one promising recruit to the infirmary for months. He had gone _off_ on the two that landed the recruit there. “Where is my dad, anyway? I kind of expected him to be underfoot— all things considered.”

“He would be, but Mom told him to lay low for a bit until Edmund forgot the insult, so she sent him with a group of guards to scout out possible sites for a shared outpost for guards on the traderoads between the Dark Kingdom and Corona.”

“So that’s really happening?”

“Pretty much,” Eugene confirmed. “I think the King is—” he paused, picking at a loose thread at his nightshirt. “Pretty sure of the ties between the two kingdoms now.”

Cass frowned at his subdued tone, but a yip from Rapunzel scattered her thoughts as the princess flounced up, pointing at the exquisite clock on the mantelpiece. “Look at the time! We’re gonna be late if we don’t get a move on!”

~

Stationed in what was fast becoming her normal place, left of and slightly behind Rapunzel’s throne, Cass was trying her best not to roll her eyes at yet another noble’s florid, overblown speech when her danger sense screamed a sudden warning. 

Her grip on her sword tightened as she quickly scanned the throne room. Up near the ceiling, at the row of stained glass windows that let light in, something bright and out of place glittered. She was moving before she had even consciously registered what it was. **_“Down!”_ **she bellowed, leaping in front of Rapunzel.

The twang of crossbow bolts filled the air for only a moment before people started screaming in blind panic. Cass used the blade of her sword to bat several bolts out of the air as Eugene and another guard grabbed decorative shields and brought them up to shield the other three royals on the dais. Arianna shrieked in pain as one of the bolts skimmed her upper arm, cutting it open and sending her reeling back against her throne. 

“Arianna!” Frederic shouted.

Eugene moved to shelter the wounded woman. In the split second he was turning, Cass _knew._ She dropped her sword and lunged for him, seeing the bolt heading for his unprotected back. Time seemed to slow to a crawl. She felt her shoulder connect hard with him. Pain exploded through her as they tumbled to the marble floor and her vision went white.

Eugene grunted, his head ringing from where it had bounced off the tiles, but he shoved himself upright. The other guard had managed to cover Arianna and Edmund had grabbed Eugene’s lost shield and was sheltering himself and Frederic behind it. The rain of crossbow bolts was keeping them pinned there on the dais.

“Cass!” Rapunzel’s anguished scream brought his head around. His wife, heedless of the arrows still singing through the air, had flung herself off the dais to try and pull Cass to safety. 

Cass— who _wasn’t moving at all_.

Sickness swept through him at the sight of the bolt sticking upright from her abdomen, blood staining her silk surcoat and blue tunic to a murky purple. She had...

Rage colored his vision crimson and he snatched up her fallen sword. 

Pete had joined Rapunzel in trying to get the fallen woman to cover, while Stan used a chair to try and shield them. Rapunzel was safe enough with them and Eugene shot to his feet, running like a madman for the door, ignoring the arrows whizzing by him, teeth clenched and fury bubbling in his veins.

He hit the door at a dead run, so far past angry that he had emerged from white-hot fury into something on the other side, cold as ice and calculating. Three of them, perched on the narrow sills of the stained glass windows, anchored in place with ropes tied to the parapet above them. He didn’t have to guess what had happened to the guards that were patrolling that section.

His mind whirred at high speed and before he was even aware of what he was doing, he had leapt to the top of the railing on the stairs, springing for the ornamental bas-relief above the door. His fingers found holds and he pulled himself up until he could get a boot on the lintel. It was all he needed, and with a final twist of his body, he was up, clinging to the sill with one hand and using the sword to cut their support ropes. Yelling, they teetered and fell, unable to maintain balance on the tiny sills. 

Grinning ferally, Eugene followed them down in a more controlled leap. One had landed badly, the crack of his head hitting the railing loud and ending with a wet crunch. One had managed to control his tumble and landed in the bushes beside the steps, thrashing to get free. Eugene landed in a crouch over the third, who looked to have broken an ankle on an awkward landing on the steps. His sword hilt hit the hooded man’s temple with a thud and Eugene was up and after the other before his victim had even gone limp.

He vaulted over the railing and hit the ground barely a pace behind the would-be assassin. He lunged and tackled the man around the waist, knocking both of them to the ground. The assassin fought like a wildcat but Eugene’s blood was up and he barely felt the blows. He twisted, putting the assassin beneath him and getting a knee in the man’s sternum. Growling, he brought Cass’s sword around to press the blade to the man’s throat. The assassin stilled and Eugene yanked the hood away to look into a pale, sweating face.

"You're gonna live just long enough to tell me who sent you." Eugene said coolly, watching a trickle of bright red blood seep from under the edge of Cass’s blade. Like everything about Cass, it was sharp enough to wound the wind. The image of her sprawled limp on the marble with an arrow in her gut flashed before his eyes and Eugene fought heroically to keep from just pressing the blade down until the man choked on his own blood. _“Who sent you?_ Was it the Separatists?”

The would-be assassin did not answer, snarling up into Eugene’s face. “You won’t kill me, you soft Coronan idiot.”

Eugene let a little more weight rest on the blade and fresh blood welled from beneath the edge. “Try me. You tried to kill my family.” He felt cold inside, numb to the suffering of the man pinned below him. The soon-to-be-dead man— 

“Captain. We’ll take it from here.”

Eugene whipped his head around to glare at the guard behind him, an ugly snarl bubbling in his throat.

“Captain—” The guard repeated, his hands spread harmlessly. “Let us. Shouldn’t you be inside with the princess?”

The memory of Rapunzel’s anguished scream made his hands loosen on the blade and he numbly let them surround him, several hands lifting him to his feet and several more shackling the unfortunate assassin.

 _Rapunzel— Cass—_

One of the guards took his arm and steered him back into the throne room. Eugene saw a bloodstain on the floor and his stomach lurched. He looked up, seeing Rapunzel, kneeling on the floor with Cass’s head in her lap while two of the castle surgeons worked frantically over her. She— she was _still_ alive?

That gave his feet all the impetus he needed to bolt to the cluster of people, skidding to his knees beside Cass’s far too-pale form. “Sweetheart, is she—?”

Rapunzel brushed back a lock of hair from her face with a bloodied hand, green eyes dark with concern and wet with unshed tears. “Alive. But we— we’re not sure how badly hurt.” Her voice hitched, but she was holding onto control tooth and nail.

“Hold her steady now, your highness,” One of the surgeons said. He had a thin, sharp blade in hand, and Eugene felt a thrill of terror at the sight of the blade lowering toward Cass’s bloodied stomach.

Rapunzel caught his hands and placed them firmly on Cass’s shoulders. “Help me keep her still,” she pled, tears in her eyes. “He has to cut the head of the arrow out. It’s barbed.”

Eugene cursed fervently under his breath but pinned Cass’s shoulders firmly. He was dimly aware of Pete holding her legs down but all he could see was that gleaming blade.

At the first touch of the knife, Cass bucked up with a strangled sound. Her eyes were wide but saw nothing, clouded with pain. Eugene looked desperately away from the surgeon, putting all of his strength into holding her down as she thrashed. Even mostly unconscious, she was keening in agony through clenched teeth and _gods,_ it felt like the knife was digging into his own flesh to hear her. 

Tears were pouring down Rapunzel’s face, but she held Cass’s head steady on her folded knees.

“Got it!”

Cass slumped back against the marble, and Eugene lost his ability to breathe until he was certain she still was. He was shaking as he let go. Rapunzel was sobbing openly beside him but her hand was steady as she brushed Cass’s hair back from her forehead. 

One of the surgeons was cleaning the wound with cloths saturated in antiseptic, and Eugene had to look away. He had seen some things in his life as a thief, but he didn’t think he could tolerate seeing his own flesh and blood so terribly hurt.

“Son, is she—?” Edmund dropped heavily to his knees next to him.

Speaking of hurt, he didn’t think he’d ever seen his dad look this haggard and sorrowful except when he had woken from the control of the Mind Trap to see he had beaten Eugene bloody.

“She’s alive—” Rapunzel said through her tears, still cradling Cassandra’s head, but leaning over to rest her cheek on Eugene’s shoulder. _“She’s alive—”_ she repeated on a sob. “Please let her stay that way—”

Eugene rested a shaking hand on Rapunzel’s hair. She was watching the surgeon suturing the wound, which Eugene couldn’t bring himself to look at. Cass wasn’t reacting to the stitches, and that alarmed him a little, but he hoped it was only unconsciousness, not her passing to someplace beyond the reach of pain. 

There was a disturbance near the door and he dragged a heavy head up to look— anything to keep from seeing that terrible wound in Cassandra’s abdomen. 

One of the two surviving assassins _(Eugene knew with certainty the visceral sound he’d heard when the first man hit had been his skull or neck breaking.)_ had stumbled in the hold of the guards, unable to stand on what had to be a badly broken ankle.

Next to him, Edmund was on his feet in a move almost too fluid to be real. There was a hint of madness in his dark eyes and he roared wordlessly. Before Eugene could think to stop him, Edmund was rushing the guards and their prisoners like a berserker. 

“Dad—!”

 **_“YOU ATTACKED MY CHILDREN!!!! You tried to kill my daughter!!”_ ** Edmund snatched the fallen man up before the guards had time to react and smashed the back of his skull into the wall with a sickening crunch. “You _dare—?”_

The man went utterly limp, a smear of blood on the wall where his head had impacted. The guards rushed to stop Edmund, but he just let the body drop, brushing his hand off on the front of his tunic. His gaze went to the last assassin.

"Shit!” Eugene was on his feet and between his father and the prisoner between one heartbeat and the next, his own heart racing. “Dad, no! We need him alive to get the names of whoever bankrolled this attack!”

Edmund still looked ready to kill and for a second, Eugene wondered if he would try to go through him to reach the man, but Rapunzel’s gasp broke the tableau. 

“Cass!” 

Fearing the worst, Eugene latched onto Edmund’s collar and hauled his father after him back to Rapunzel. “Sunshine?”

Rapunzel ignored him. “Come on, Cass! Open your eyes!” she exhorted. 

Hardly daring to breathe, Eugene leaned over his wife. Cass’s lips had pulled into a pained frown, and dark eyelashes fluttered against her alarmingly pale cheeks. Her head turned against Rapunzel’s knees, her eyebrows pinched together.

Eugene felt his knees give out as her lashes parted to reveal hazy gray irises. He sank down beside Rapunzel. “Cass?”

She blinked several times before she could seem to bring him into focus. Her lips parted and she struggled for a moment to form words. “You h-hurt, Fitz-Fitzherbert?”

“No,” he choked, throat thick. “You saved me.”

“G-good,” Something that might have been a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. “C-can’t let my b-brother die—”

Something in Eugene snapped and the tears he didn’t know he was holding in came pouring out. The small part of him that had remained convinced that— _even after her apology_ , she wanted him gone— was washed away in the flood of emotion. “Y-yeah well, you c-can’t go dying on me either, sis.”

“Not gonna.” Cass grumbled. “Now s-stop cryin’, idiot. You’re upsettin’ Raps.”

Rapunzel let out a teary little giggle, stroking Cass’s hair again. The surgeons had finished their needle-work and slathered a thick solution of herbs and medicines over Cass’s wound. One of them went to work binding bandages around her middle with the assistance of poor Pete, who looked rather green, while the other mixed something in a cup and urged Cassandra to drink it. She frowned mulishly at him until Rapunzel took the cup and gave her a _look_.

Obediently, Cass took the pain killing solution when Rapunzel held it to her lips.

Edmund leaned over them, resting his hand on Eugene’s shoulder. “Cassandra—”

She blinked owlishly up at him, working her mouth to get the taste of the medicine out of it. “E-Edmund?”

His eyes were wet as he dropped to his knees, and he reached out his hand as though to stroke her hair, but hesitated before withdrawing it. “That was bravely done—” he said at last, voice thick. “Thank you for saving my son— but don’t cost me a daughter doing so, please.”

Cass pursed her lips for a moment and then slowly, replied. “I’ll t-try not to. But it’s hard to keep him out of trouble,” She tried to laugh but it wound up ending on a hiss of pain.

“Hey!” Eugene protested, but he was chuckling with relief. He sought Rapunzel's hand with one of his as he scrubbed at his wet cheeks with the other. She caught his seeking hand and brought it into her lap to touch Cass’s hair. Cass looked at her cross-wise but didn’t protest. 

Eugene swallowed hard and slid his hand out from under Rapunzel’s to cup Cass’s cool cheek. “I mean it. I can’t lose you again. Never again.”

She looked startled, but bit her lip on a reply, her eyes darting past him to Edmund. After a moment of hesitation, she brought her shaking hand up to cover his. “Not plannin' on it.”

Rapunzel looked delighted and caught both of their hands and brought them up to press a kiss on the back of Cass’s hand and one on the palm of Eugene’s hand. “Good. I don’t want to lose either of you.”

Frederic came over, his own eyes deeply troubled. “Thank you for saving my daughter and her husband.”

Cass blinked up at him. It was obvious the dose she had just taken was starting to affect her from the careful, slow way she phrased her reply. “You made me her knight, Your Majesty. It’s what knights do.”

“Few go to this extreme. I chose well making you her knight, Cassandra, but please do try to stay alive. There are several people who would not like to lose you.”

From where she was being bandaged up by one of the surgeon’s assistants, Arianna gave Frederic a small smile from behind his back. Not only had he _finally_ said something right without her prompting, but it seemed he'd well and truly gotten rid of that stupid grudge. Thank goodness, navigating the future with that in the background would have been trickier.

The assistant tied the last bandage and Arianna rose, cradling her injured arm. She came up beside her husband to smile down at them. "Agreed. On all counts. But now I think it's time to get your knight to the infirmary. And for you to get cleaned up." She looked pointedly at the blood all over Rapunzel's gown.

Rapunzel looked down at herself, eyes welling again at the sheer amount of blood Cass had lost. “I’ll— I’ll change but then I’m going to the infirmary too.” Eugene carefully helped her move Cass’s head from her lap and rise to her feet. She wobbled against him but drew herself up, looking as if she dared anyone to deny her.

No one dared.

And if she wept with a mix of fear and relief as she washed Cass’s blood off, there was no one to judge her, because Eugene was too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The gesture Eugene used at the beginning of the chapter is called [Bras d'honneur](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bras_d%27honneur) and yes, basically means 'up yours.' It is considered extremely offensive and dates back far enough to have been used in the time period of this fantasy world.
> 
> Cass is wearing two layers of tightly woven silk and chain mail. Silk does have the ability to blunt the force of an arrow or other projectile enough to keep it from being as lethal as it would be otherwise.
> 
> Next Chapter: _"There is a darkness in the line of the Dark Kings."_ The repercussions of the attack. A plethora of worried dads, not all of them for the same reasons. There is a 'talk' with the surviving assassin.


	11. Masks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While I've been trying to upload a new chapter weekly, I did not get to upload one last week, but to make up for it, have an extra-long chapter!
> 
> Warning: This chapter contains, among other things, scenes of bloodletting, descriptions of injuries and torture, which might be a bit much for some readers. Not for the faint of heart.

They got down to the infirmary in time to see two litter-bearers carrying the stretcher with the prone Cass through a crowd. The King and Queen were there, as well as Edmund. Several of the guards, including a still nauseated looking Pete, were crowded close around the stretcher and the two medics bearing it, as if to protect the wounded woman from anything else. Under other circumstances, Eugene would have been glad to see it, but at the moment they were more getting in the medic’s and each other’s way than being useful. Still holding Rapunzel’s hand in an almost crushing grip, he barked an order for them to fall in line.

The familiar orders got them out of their concerned muddle and obediently two went to hold open the doors for the litter-bearers while the others fell back to an even spacing around the area. Varian came rushing up, his eyes wide and panicked for an instant at the sight of the bloodied figure on the stretcher before hardening. He looked like he was ready to take on one of the assassins himself.

Eugene grimaced as Hector, the pale priest in tow, sidled through the crowd to stand at Edmund’s elbow. Letting go of his wife’s hand, he stalked over. “The one and only reason I am not tossing you out of here right now is because Cass doesn’t need to wake up to me handing you your ass, but you come within fifty feet of her again...”

He stumbled as Hector slapped him on the back hard enough to make him stagger forward a step.

“Didn’t think you had it in you, Pretty Boy,” Hector grinned slyly at him.   
  
“What are you talking about?” Eugene stepped away from his touch, skin crawling.

“I got there just in time to see you dealing handily with three assassins. I didn’t think you had that kind of grit. Good to see I was wrong about you, Princeling.”

“A) Never call me that again and B) I meant it when I said I would hand you your ass. I’m done playing nice.” Eugene snarled.

Hector bowed mockingly and retreated. “Shouldn’t we be leaving?” the priest asked him urgently as soon as he was in range. 

Hector looked at him in disbelief. “Are you kidding? Things are just starting to get fun!”

Edmund waved them both to silence, earning a nod from Hector and a nervous swallow from the priest. Edmund’s eyes had not left the stretcher at all.

Eugene hurried back to Rapunzel’s side, catching up her hand and planting a kiss on the back of it as he interlaced their fingers. At last the procession was through the door and Eugene followed, sending a sharp glare at Hector, and nodding pointedly at two of the guards nearby. Hector growled as they moved to block him from coming any nearer, but was wise enough not to start something in front of his sworn king and the monarchs of Corona.

Cass stirred with a hiss of pain as she was eased off the stretcher and onto an infirmary cot. Her eyes weren’t focused but she tried to sit up until Rapunzel hurried forward to lay a calming hand on her forearm. “Calm down. You’re in the infirmary.”

Cass blinked muzzily at her. “Spendin’ way too much time ‘ere—” She grumbled, but didn’t fight Rapunzel’s touch. Rapunzel helped settle her on the bed, but was startled when Cass growled blearily at one of the doctor’s that had come to tend her. “Not you ‘gain,” she grumbled. “Don’ like you. Not touchin’ me.”

Rapunzel looked up into the baffled face of the wizened doctor who had first treated Cass when she had come back to Corona, slumped unconscious over her saddlebow. “Cass—”

“Nope— ‘E’s not gonna touch me.” Cass hissed, fingers fumbling for her dagger.

“Cass—” Rapunzel tried again, but stalled as her father laid a hand on her shoulder.

“It’s fine, daughter. She has the right to say who treats her. Doctor, I think it would be best to find somewhere else to be.” Frederic commanded.

Rapunzel looked up at him as if to object, but subsided at a moan from her bedridden friend. She hurried to help make her more comfortable on the cot.

Cass weakly protested the cosseting, but was having a hard time fighting through the blood loss and drug haze to get more than a word or two of protest out. She finally settled after a stern look from Rapunzel. Not long after, sleep pulled her under again.

Rapunzel sagged down on the side of the cot, all her breath escaping in a sigh and her hands shaking ever so slightly.

Eugene laid a gentle hand on her shoulder.

Rapunzel rubbed her cheek against it and then looked up at him gratefully. “That was closer than I ever wanted to come to losing either of you again.” Her hands twitched and came up to rest near where she had once held the combined Moonstone and Sundrop, when she had brought Cassandra back from death and healed the rest of Corona.

Eugene dropped his own hand down to cover hers. “Yeah, me too, Sunshine. Me too.”

“That’s twice you’ve brought up  _ ‘again’ _ ,” Edmund’s deep voice interrupted the moment. “What are you talking about...?”

“Ahh— yeah, Dad—” Eugene looked uneasy. “Can we maybe not discuss that now? Please?” His eyes darted down to Cass and then away.

Edmund harrumphed. “Fine. But make no mistake. I’m not forgetting this.”

“I could  _ hope,” _ Eugene muttered.

Rapunzel smiled weakly up at him and patted his hand. “I think I’m going to stay here for a while. Just— just to settle my nerves.”

“I think that sounds like a good idea, Sunshine. Mind if I keep you company for a while? Honestly, I’m still coming down from the adrenaline rush.”

Arianna smiled down at them. “I think I agree.” She chivvied Frederic towards the door, snagging Edmund’s arm along the way in her unbandaged one. “Captain, I’ll ask two guards to stand watch here, but you might want to set up a rotation before too long. At least until we find who is behind this attempt.”

Eugene managed a small smile at her. “I will, thank you, Your Majesty. Not letting that one slide. Make sure you take a couple of them with you until you are safe in your own quarters. I’m sure there are plenty out there who will volunteer.” He rolled his shoulders. “I’ll coordinate the schedules—”

“In a bit, Captain. Family comes first right now. Stay here with your sister and your wife.”

“My sister—” Eugene had a kind of wondering tone. “Wow— that’s still weird. But I think— I like it.”

Arianna chuckled as she herded the others out the door, closing it firmly behind her. He could faintly hear her reassuring the lingering troop of guards and asking for volunteers. He was surprised that the raised voices answering her in the affirmative didn’t wake Cass up again.

Carefully, he settled on the other side of the cot, afraid of jostling Cass. He caught Rapunzel’s glance and answered with a half-hearted smile. “All those years growing up, living in a daydream of what my family would be like, I can honestly say this wasn’t it. But now that I have it, I don’t think I’d want it any other way.”

Rapunzel smiled at him and extended her hand across Cass’s sleeping body. 

He wrapped his fingers around hers and offered a hesitant smile back.

They sat there in silence for a long while, merely watching the steady rise and fall of Cass’s chest, relieved that she had survived.

~

"M'lady, if I might have a word with you? Privately, please?"

Arianna turned from where she was talking to a guard, arranging for a pigeon sent out, to see Edmund patiently standing by. His expression was unusual, somewhere between concern and— for lack of a better word— mental constipation. "Of course. I'll be back in a moment to draft the note." 

"Of course, Your Majesty." The guard bowed his head.

Arianna took Edmund’s arm and moved off out of earshot of the guard, but not out of sight. She was not so uncautious, not with the wound in her upper arm as a stinging reminder. "What can I do for you?"

Edmund looked decidedly uncomfortable for a moment, but then seemed to find his resolve. "Rather than send Hector home right at the moment— which I  _ will do, _ as promised, later— I think the balloon might serve a rather more urgent purpose."

"Oh?"

"The man who— who attacked me— the one who calls— erhm— her father. He should be informed of her injury. He will want to see her."

Arianna smiled. Oh, this was more than she could have hoped for. "I was about to send a pigeon for him."

Edmund worked his mouth for a moment like he was chewing over his words before uttering them. "The balloon would be better, M'lady. It could fetch him back here faster than the swiftest horse."

"It could. Are you sure?" Arianna asked, laying a gentle hand on his wrist.

"Please. If it were me out there I would wish it."

"Then I happily accept. I'll tell—”

"Do not—” Edmund interrupted. "Let him think it was  _ your  _ idea. I am  _ not _ ready to give over my newfound child entirely."

~

Toward lunchtime, even though he was feeling pretty shaky himself, Eugene left Rapunzel there to head down to the kitchen and bespeak something they could eat. All he wanted was a slice or two of ham he could stuff into a roll, but the cook on duty was having none of it and had one of her helpers stuff a hamper full that he could take back to the infirmary. He looked at the bottle of wine on top and passed it back. He needed a clear head. A bottle of fresh pressed cider from the Old Corona orchards replaced it and he smiled at them and bore the heavy backet back to feed himself and his wife. 

He managed a weary smile for Stan and Pete, standing duty outside the door, and slipped back into the quiet room. “Hey, Sunshine, how’s she doing?”

Rapunzel smiled up at him and it tore his heart to see how tired she looked. “Still sleeping. But that’s good. Sleep helps her heal. At least all the books say it does.”

“It does,” He agreed, pulling a wheeled tray close to the side of the bed where she sat and setting the hamper on it. “But it doesn’t reassure you as much as having them awake and talking to you.”

Her wobbly smile firmed a little. “You understand!”

“Course I do, Sunshine.” He found a folding stool and seated himself close to her. “Now apparently, the kitchens won’t let their favorite princess and the handsome Captain of the guard starve, so dig in.”

She glanced back at Cass and he prodded her bare foot with the toe of his boot. “She’ll probably only be allowed broth and soup for a few days until— until they are sure she’s healing.” And Gods above and below did he hope she wouldn’t take wound-fever... or worse. “And you know she’ll be mad at you— and more importantly, _ me _ — if you starve yourself while she’s hurt. So eat. Just save an apple for Max because as Captain, I’m ordering you to go for a short ride later. Just around one of the gardens or something.”

“Pretty sure princess outranks you,” she giggled, but set an apple aside. Just that small gesture reassured him that she would get out and get some air before she worried herself sick. 

They ate quietly, not needing words. Their frequent glances at the figure on the bed spoke volumes. The quiet meal was finally interrupted by one of the surgeons coming over to tend to Cass. They vacated the bedside, but didn’t go far.

He unwrapped the bandages and Eugene clapped a hand over his mouth, the food he had just eaten threatening to make a reappearance. The wound itself, much larger than the arrowhead that had caused it, because of the need to cut it free, was held together by ugly black stitches, but the worst part was the hideous bloody bruise spreading all the way across her stomach. The skin over it was tight and swollen. Eugene shook as the surgeon calmly took up a small blade. “What are you doing?” he asked desperately, something inside screaming at the thought of hurting her more.

“Bloodletting. The pressure of the bruising may cause more injury if it is not given a release.” The surgeon told him calmly. 

Rapunzel squeaked and buried her face in Eugene's shoulder. He could feel her shaking. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, holding her tightly. This time he couldn't pull his eyes away as the surgeon precisely made several small cuts around the worst areas of the bruising. 

Cass moaned and tossed her head restlessly but did not wake from her drugged sleep, for which Eugene could not have been more grateful. The thought of her suffering this awake and aware made something dark and unpleasant curl in his gut. The sight of the surgeon mopping bright red blood away with wads of linen caused a near unbearable tightness in his chest and his fingers curled into fists. 

Those arrows— they had been mankillers. It wasn't only that they had been meant for the royals on the dais— his  _ family— _ but that they had been meant to inflict as much damage as possible on anyone they didn't kill right away. It was only the tightly woven silk of Cass's tunic and surcoat that had blunted enough of the force of the arrow to keep it from going deep into her vitals, where it could not have been removed without killing her, slowly and in agony— if someone had not given her a mercy stroke first. 

A visceral image gripped him of her dying by inches, and the sword in his own hand shaking and faltering, unable to give her that final mercy because of his weakness.  _ No— _ his fists tightened to the point of pain.

He had to focus. Someone had ordered this attack— someone who wanted the royalty of either Corona or the Dark Kingdom— possibly both— dead. 

A pained whimper escaped Cass as the surgeon finished his bloody work and pressed fresh poultices over the wounds. Eugene saw red. His— his  _ sister _ was lying there, bloodied and badly wounded, and someone had orchestrated the attack that had nearly killed her... He was going to find out  _ who! _

And he knew  _ just _ who had that information.

He put a wobbly smile on that didn’t feel too fake and stroked Rapunzel’s hair. “Sweetheart, while I hate to leave you, your parents need me to plan those guard rotations to keep them safe. Can I trust you to protect Cass?”

Wiping her teary eyes, Rapunzel grimly nodded. “I— I should go get my fryi—”   
  
Eugene slipped a long dagger out of the top of his boot and pressed it into her smaller hand. He stood behind her and demonstrated how to thrust it. “No hesitation, Sunshine. Hard and fast. No one gets to hurt her again.” 

She nodded, straightening her shoulders, “No. Not ever again.”

Eugene pressed a kiss to her temple. “There’s my girl. I’ll come back with dinner, okay?”

She nodded and kissed him in return. “Thank you.”

He nodded and left two of the most important people in his life behind. He closed the door firmly behind him, nodding at Stan and a still-pale Pete, standing firm guard on the doors even though they had already pulled a full rotation today. “Thank you. I’ll see about sending you a relief soon.”

“No ne—” Stan began.

“That’s an order, guys. I want you at your best to protect those two, and that means you get a meal and rest. After that, I’ll put you back on rotation.”

“Yes, sir.” Stan nodded while Pete pretended he wasn’t relying on his halberd to keep him upright.

Eugene saluted them. “I’ll have a relief within the hour.”

He turned and strode away, his shoulders tight with tension. His back straightened as he headed for the dungeons. 

Time to find out who had called the shots.

The assassin seemed less than impressed when Eugene entered the room. “Let’s get this farce over with.”

“Farce?” Eugene asked in a tone that was a clear indicator of danger for anyone who knew him. The assassin didn’t.

“You’re  _ Corona _ . So soft hearted you let thieves in the royal family and traitors guard the Princess rather than do what needs to be done.” The man sneered. “The likes of you couldn’t threaten an infant and be taken seriously.”

"I am the Prince-consort of Corona, true. But it would do you well to remember I am also the latest son in the line of Dark Kings."

"I'll believe it when I see it." The assassin scoffed, clearly having long since written Eugene off as a non-threat.

Eugene glanced at the man's right hand, index finger callused to mark where he used it on the trigger of the crossbow. "That's the finger you used to attack my family and to kill who knows how many others." He grabbed the digit and bent it all the way back, causing the assassin to scream as the bone snapped.

"Now," Eugene said pleasantly. "How do you feel about telling me who ordered that attack?"

The only sound that the assassin made was one of strangled shock as he tried to gather his wits. “It...it’ll take more than just one finger.”   
  
“Then isn’t it great you have nine more? And ten toes. After that, though, I get to get creative. And my wife says I’m so  _ good _ at being creative.”

The false affability faded as the twisted feelings in Eugene’s gut seemed to surge and take control over him. He grabbed the assassin by the throat and slammed him bodily into the stone wall of his cell. “You think this is a joke? I have died for Rapunzel. Not almost died.  _ Dead. _ And she  _ wouldn’t let _ death keep me. Same with Cass. Both of us would do it again, no question. And you don’t think killing for her wouldn’t be just as easy? Newsflash - you’re the only one of your team left alive because you have information I need.”

Then Eugene let him go and forced the smile back on his face. He even reached out and straightened the prisoner’s collar. “But like you said, Corona’s  _ nice.  _ So I’m going to be nice and give you a chance to adjust to your new understanding of things, and you get to decide whether you want to give up your client, or if you want my  _ full undivided _ attention.” Eugene raised his hands, as if to show he meant no harm, and backed out of the cell. He locked the door and left the dungeons, nodding to the guards on the way out. “I’ll be working on the new protection rotation for the Royal Family. Let me know if he changes his mind about talking.”

Eugene went to his office, closed the door, and immediately fell to his knees and vomited into the waste bucket. He felt all the false calm and bravado leave him with the bile. His limbs were shaking too hard for him to stand back up, so he just laid on the floor. The hate didn’t leave him though, he still felt it coiled in his gut, waiting for a chance to strike out again.

He didn’t want this. He didn’t want any of this. He didn’t want his family hurt and in danger by some unknown foe. He didn’t want this darkness coiled up inside him. He didn’t want to slowly break the man downstairs, no matter how much he wished him dead. He remembered the cold certainty with which he’d held a blade to the man’s throat, ready to press down.

But he had too much responsibility to back down. Son, Husband, Prince, Prince Consort, Captain of the Guard,  _ Brother _ . All of these titles came with an obligation to protect his precious people, no matter what.

_ There’s a limit to how much you have to sacrifice, _ he heard Cap’s voice remind him.

“Sorry Captain, but if it’s between me or them, I’ll choose them everytime,” he muttered, forcing himself upright. He had schedules to plan. He ignored how badly his hands were shaking as he seated himself and picked up a quill.

~

Varian looked up at a tap on the door of his workroom, where he had been uselessly playing with a bit of clockwork, his mind completely distracted by the memory of Cass, one of the strongest people he had ever known, lying there pale and bloodied. “Enter.”

“Hey kid.” Eugene said. “I need a favor.”

Varian grimaced at Eugene’s state. His hair was badly rumpled and hung around a haggard face. His eyes were bloodshot and even from here, Varian could smell sickness on his breath. Wrinkling his nose, he rose and handed Eugene a bottle, pointing him toward the sink in the corner. “Rinse your mouth out with that and spit it out, don’t swallow. Your breath smells horrible.”

Eugene eyed the green-tinted liquid warily. “What is it?”   
  
“Just a mint-infused alcohol. Not drinkable quality, but it’s enough to get rid of the smell of sick.”

Eugene grimaced. “That obvious?”

“On your breath, yes,” Varian replied bluntly. “You can explain the rest away by being worried for Cass.”

Eugene bowed his head, but went to do as told. When he was done, he leaned heavily against the table. “I think I’m a terrible person. I— I got so upset that I— I interrogated the surviving assassin.” His shoulders were shaking and Varian was brutally reminded of his stint in the dungeons, watching prisoners beat on each other for information. 

Then his resolve hardened. “So— he hurt Cass, hurt people that you care about. I’m _ not  _ going to feel sorry for him.”

Eugene peered at him out of one bloodshot eye. “I could have just asked you for some of your truth serum.”

Varian started and turned to a rack full of tiny glassware bottles. He lifted one out. In the bottom were only a few drops of a bright purple liquid. “I— I don’t keep much around. Brings back bad memories. If you can give me a day, I can brew you up a better batch. It compels whoever you dose with it to speak. The other stuff— not s-so much.”   
  
Eugene sighed and nodded. “Yeah— yeah. We need to know what he knows. Who paid for this attack— and why.”

“I’ll have it ready by sunset tomorrow.”

~

Eugene was just on his way back to the infirmary with a dinner he didn’t want when a guard on lookout sent word that a balloon was incoming fast. Abandoning the basket, Eugene sprinted for the lookout position. 

“Sir, the balloon appears to be one of our own and is making all speed,” the guard reported, handing over his spyglass.

“Just what we need. More trouble.” Eugene peered through the glass, squinting against the last rays of the setting sun. “Yep. Royal purple envelope, gold sun-crest— definitely one of ours. Too far out to see passengers, though. Got Varian’s thrust jets on high—” He murmured. “What’s so urgent?”

“Could it be a trick, sir? The only balloon I know is out is the one they were sending this morning to the Dark Kingdom.”

“They never left, not with the attack.” Eugene muttered. He was about to agree and have word sent for archers to the towers when he made out the figure at the bow of the balloon, leaning over the edge of the basket as if sheer will could make it go faster. The glass fell from nerveless fingers.

“Cap!”

“Sir?”

“Shit.”

Eugene turned and bolted back down the stairs. He didn’t know what the man had heard, but with everything that has already happened, he’d not be in a mood to be calm. He flagged down the nearest guard. “Escort my father and his companions to their rooms and keep them there—  _ politely _ . Get a group of men and clear the halls between the landing courtyard and the infirmary. Cap’s gonna want to get to Cassandra first thing and woe betide anything that gets in his way. I’ll meet him at the field. See if Queen Arianna is willing to be disturbed from her dinner. I might need her to be the calming voice in this.”

“Sir!”

He flagged down another guard and passed him the basket of food he had abandoned only moments ago. “Take this to the princess in the infirmary with my apologies. Tell her that Cassandra’s father will be here within half an hour at most. She needs to know before she gets surprised.”

The guard took the basket and Eugene swallowed, pausing with a hand on the wall just long enough to catch his breath. His thoughts whirled in a dark, unstoppable spiral. How could he tell Cap he was just sitting around waiting for Varian to provide him with a solution?  _ Cass _ had been hurt, and he couldn't imagine how furious Cap would be that he wasn't even trying to do something. He had nothing to offer Cap, not when his daughter was hurt and they still didn’t know who had set up and funded the attack.

He needed something to give him, some sign that he was a worthy Captain to follow Cap, that he was a good brother— one who would protect his sibling and avenge her hurts. He had nothing, he couldn’t— 

_ He had the assassin. _

That thought stopped the sickening spinning of his mind. He didn’t want to do it. He didn’t want to face what he was becoming again, and seeing that wretch’s face would bring all those dark, evil feelings bubbling back to the surface, but this might be his  _ only _ chance. 

He took the stairs down to the dungeon two at a time, breezing past the guards to let himself into the cell with the single surviving assassin. The man looked up from where he was cradling his mangled finger. He’d wrapped it in strips of his linen shirt, but it was purple and dangerously swollen.

Though he was pale and sweating, he scoffed, “Still not talking, you soft ponce.”

The beast in his belly roared up and took control of his hands for a moment. They shot out and he grabbed the broken finger and twisted, feeling bone crunch under his hands.

The assassin’s mouth opened in a silent scream, but he couldn’t seem to get enough air in to make a sound. Eugene leaned close, his breath stirring the fringe of damp hair on the man’s forehead. “Last chance to tell me what I want to know, because the father of the woman you shot is coming. The former Captain of the guard, my predecessor. He probably won’t be as nice as I am. That was his little girl you put an arrow in.”

The erstwhile assassin stared up at him, pupils blown wide in his agonized face. His harsh breaths hissed between clenched teeth, but he didn’t seem ready to talk just yet. “A-another soft Coronan. He won’t—”

“Won’t what? Want a chance to talk to the man who pulled the trigger on his daughter?” Eugene barked a laugh that wasn’t one. “I think you’ll find you are mistaken. He tried to strangle a  _ king _ for her sake.”

A harsh, gasping breath wheezed out of the assassin. 

“You think we’re so soft. Well, there’s something you should know. I don't take prisoners." Eugene squeezed the maimed finger he still held.

Involuntarily whimpering at the pain, the assassin glanced around at the dungeon cell, his wide eyes snapping back as Eugene leaned in, his smile blood-chilling. "There's no prisoner when there's no _ body of proof." _

A knock on the cell door startled both of them and letting go of the man, Eugene involuntarily snarled. “What?”

“Sir, Queen Arianna requests your presence. The balloon is almost here.” A guard called out.

“Tell her I’ll be along momentarily.” Eugene managed. The darkness in him coiled and grumbled, reaching for freedom again. He ruthlessly quashed it down. “Congratulations,” he breathed at his prisoner. “You’re out of time. He’s here.”

Leaving the man sprawled bonelessly on his bunk, he stalked out. He made it out of sight of the guards and safely into a linen closet before his stomach rebelled and he went heavily to his knees, dry-heaving. Tears burned in his eyes like the bile in his throat and his whole body shook in its efforts to expel the evil that forever had its claws in him now. He was a monster now, as much as the man who'd tried to kill them. He could have waited for the serum— he could have—- Cap would be more worried about Cass than finding out who had paid for the attack. He was a  _ fool. _

He retched again, arms shaking. It was long moments before his revolting stomach stopped trying to rid itself of nothing but bile. Eugene knelt there a moment longer, shaking in every limb. When he could breathe normally, he mopped up the small puddle of stomach acid and bile with a towel that he tossed into a hamper, straightened out his uniform and forced himself back to his feet. He still had duties— sometimes he thought that was the only goad keeping him moving forward.

Remembering what Varian had said about his breath, he stopped and thoroughly rinsed his mouth out before hurrying to join the queen.

He reached the courtyard as the balloon was over the city and took his place at Arianna’s shoulder. She glanced at him and a line formed between her eyebrows. She started to reach for him, winced and lowered her wounded arm. But she brought up her other hand to smooth a lock of hair out of his face. “Eugene— are you well?”

If she had noticed— Quickly, he shook his head. “I’m fine, Your Majesty— only tired.”

She frowned at him. “You’re worn thin, child. As soon as we’ve taken care of this—” She tipped her head toward the balloon. “You should get some rest.”

“I have too many duties to defer, Majesty.” Eugene drew himself up.

“Duty should not come before your own health. You are worried for your sister— worried for your people. You cannot be everywhere at once, and wearing yourself to a thread will do you— and them— no good. Would you let a guard as worn as you are, take on protecting those you love?”

He flinched, remembering his own words to Stan and Pete earlier. “No.”

“See? Do not make me have to order you to your rest, my son.”

His breath caught in his throat. Her kindness might be his undoing. “Yes, my Queen. I swear I will rest when this is all resolved.”

“Not all of it, Eugene. Just this latest crisis. Let yourself catch your breath.”

He managed a half-hearted attempt at his usual grin. “You win.”

After a moment of searching his face, she nodded. “I’m not winning anything, Eugene, Just taking care of those I love, same as you.”

His heart thumped hard in his chest and he lowered his head, closing his eyes to hide the tears threatening to fall. If she only knew...

The balloon glided in, but Cap was already over the railing, using one hand on the ladder to slow his drop. He hit the ground running. His whole frame was one giant ball of tension and his brown eyes wide and worried. He skidded to a halt in front of them, mouth open to say something.

Arianna smoothly took charge before he could get anything out, accusation or question. “Come, you’ll think better when you have seen her.” She took his arm and turned toward the castle. It was apparent how much the former soldier was trying to restrain himself to the queen’s pace, when all he wanted was to run to see his child.

“Your Majesty—” He was not rude enough to shake her off, but his tension was palpable, like a leashed hound on a scent.

“If she is awake, how much good will it do her seeing you in such a state, old friend? Walk with me.” Arianna said. For as soft and soothing as her voice was, there was a note of command running through it that Cap could not ignore. He heaved a sigh and maintained his pace, no longer straining to dart ahead.

Following behind them, Eugene wondered if he would ever be able to command like that, without ever raising his voice.

The two guards at the door were quick to open the door for them and Rapunzel leapt to her feet as soon as they did. “Cap! She’s awake, but she just took another dose so she’ll be asleep soon!”   
  
That did it. Cap pulled his arm from Arianna’s grip and bolted to the cot. “Cass? Cassandra?”

Bleary eyes in a too-pale face blinked up at him. “Hi, Daddy—” Her voice was soft and tired, almost childlike in its weariness as she raised a shaking hand up to him.

Cap caught it in both of his and pressed the back of it to his lips as he went to his knees beside the cot. “Cass, honey. I was so worried.”

She huffed a breath that wasn’t quite a laugh. “So much for being the strong one, huh?” Her gray eyes were pained.

“How many were hurt in the attack?” Cap turned his gaze up to Eugene.

Eugene straightened up. “Four minor injuries, the queen among them, mostly from the panic among the nobles. Two guards on the parapets dead, where the assassins got in position. Cass was the only major injury, sir, and that’s my fault.”

“Stuff that shit, Fitzherbert!” Cass tried to shout but devolved into a bout of coughing that racked her frame. Rapunzel hurried to slide an arm behind her back and ease her up enough to sip from a glass of water. “Owww—” she complained softly when she could breathe again.

“She took the arrow for me.” Eugene continued.

“To keep you alive, idiot, while you were tryin’ to keep the queen alive. Don’ make me hit you.” Cass grumbled, squeezing her father’s hand in pain as Rapunzel eased her back down.

“You wouldn’t have been hurt if—”

“Like my daughter said, don’t make me hit you. You were doing your duty,” Cap glowered up at Eugene. “You think I, of all people, don’t understand that?”

“Sides, we’re family now, right?” Cass mumbled, a hint of pink on her pale cheeks.   
  
Cap’s attention returned to his daughter. “Eh?”

Rapunzel shushed Cass with a finger across her lips. “Let me. You’re supposed to be saving your strength, remember?” She scolded. “The priest confirmed the mark yesterday. It’s identical to Eugene’s.”

Cap blinked down at Cass for a moment. “My daughter— the princess—?”

“Not a princess—” Cass mumbled, looking away.

“Sorry to say, you are now.” Arianna put in, earning an evil stare from the bedridden woman.

Cass sighed through her nose. “Dumb priest. Dumb Mark. Dumb Eugene. Dumber me.” she grumbled, lashes fluttering.

“You are not dumb.” Rapunzel chided. “But you are hurt and tired. Why don’t you rest?”

“Don’ wanna.”

“Sweetheart, get some rest. I’ll still be here when you wake up.” Cap said, smoothing her hair back.

“Don’ gotta hover, Dad. Raps is already doin’ that.” The painkillers were pulling her down inexorably, it seemed.

“I’m your father. It’s my right to be annoying and overbearing.”   
  
A small smile curved Cass’s lips. “Love you, dad.”

“Love you too, sweetheart.” Cap leaned in to press a kiss to her forehead.

Cass sighed and at last let the drugs draw her under. Cap stayed bent over her for another long moment before kissing the back of her hand and settling it gently on the blankets next to her hip.

Arianna stepped forward. “It was good of you to say that, old friend.”

“Ah?” Cap glanced up at her as he slowly rose to his feet. “Beg pardon?”

She reached up to ruffle back hair that he had obviously been running a hand through in worry to judge by its badly rumpled state. “Reminding her that in spite of the mark being confirmed, she is still your child. That was much needed.”

“She’ll never not be,” Cap responded. “She’s been mine since that night I found her abandoned.”

Arianna smiled at him before turning her gaze on Eugene. “Now for you—” 

Cap didn’t miss the way he flinched.

“Go rest.” There was steel in her kindly tone. “Everything is well in hand here and if you do not get some rest you will do none of us, least of all yourself, any good.”   
  
Cap took a good look at him. His eyes were red-rimmed and his hands shook a little even though he was trying to conceal it by fidgeting with the hem of his tunic. He looked like ten leagues of bad road. He had obviously not been in a good place, what with Cass deliberately taking an arrow for him, as well as the attack on everyone he cared about. “She’s right, lad. You are dangerously close to doing yourself some damage. You need sleep and food.”

"Will all due respect Cap, Your Majesty, I can't rest right now. I still have work to do." Eugene folded his arms and looked stubborn.

Queen Arianna pursed her lips. "I thought I had made myself clear—"

"When the current crisis was over, yes. This has to do with the current crisis. Morrison and Clement, the two guards who were killed. I need to arrange a funeral service and tell their families." Eugene explained, doing his best to draw himself up.

"I'll do it." Cap said in a tone that brooked no argument.

Eugene argued anyway. "I'm the Captain of the Guard. It's my job—”

"I've known them a long, long time, since they were raw recruits. It will mean more coming from me." And while that was indeed true, it wasn't the only reason. Grieving families were wont to lash out at the bearer of bad news. Cap could take it. His successor couldn’t.

Eugene had been near his breaking point before this latest cluster. Now he looked only a hair's breadth away from snapping completely, and Cap couldn't let that happen. Not when it was in his power to stop it. He pointed at a cot near at hand to where Cassandra slept the sleep of the drugged. “There’s an empty cot right there. You’ll still be right here if anything happens. But you get some sleep and some food. That’s an order.”

“Not under your command anymore.” Eugene muttered stubbornly.

“No, but you are under mine,” Arianna corrected. “And I second that. Sleep, Eugene. I’ll see to it that food is brought to you later.”

“But—”

“Eugene—” Rapunzel rested a hand on his wrist. “Mom is right. You— to be honest, you look terrible.”

“You wound me, Sunshine.” Eugene sighed but slumped down on the cot. “Fine, but just a nap. I wasn't kidding about having a lot of work still to do.”

“It can wait until later,” Arianna said.

“And I’m here now,” Cap reminded. “I can get some of it taken care of and delegate more.”

“Everyone is ganging up on me.”

“When you won’t take care of yourself, someone must do it for you, dear boy.” Arianna smoothed a hand over his hair and patted his cheek.

"Yes, ma'am," he sighed heavily, giving up the fight at last. At her urging, he slumped down on the edge of the cot. "Just a—"

"Yes, a nap, we know." Arianna bent and brushed a gentle kiss on his forehead. "Rest."

"I'll make sure he does, Mom," Rapunzel was swift to assure her, moving in for a hug. 

Arianna held her close for a moment. "Do not forget to look after yourself too, my love."

"I promise. I— I can't protect her— protect anyone if I don't."

"Good girl," Arianna kissed her cheek. "Would that your husband had the same sense."

"Hey..." Came the expected protest from the man on the cot, even as he was toeing off his boots.

Arianna took Cap's arm and steered them both out of the infirmary.

Eugene hesitated before lying down. "Sunshine—"

Rapunzel looked up from where she was tucking the sheet more closely around Cass. "Hmmm...?"

"Think I can borrow you for just a second? At least til I fall asleep?"

"Oh!" Her eyes softened and she seated herself at the head of his cot, coaxing him to lay with his head in her lap. She smoothed his hair back. "Afraid of bed dreams?" She asked gently.

Eugene had never lied to her. He never wanted to, so he just nodded. "About—?" She tipped her head at the prone figure on the other cot.

He was pretty sure Cass would feature too, so it wasn't— entirely— a lie when he nodded again.

Rapunzel stroked his hair again. "Sleep, love. I'll be right here."

Sighing, he closed his eyes and hoped for dreamless sleep, even as he knew it wouldn't be.

~

Outside the infirmary door, Cap and the queen listened to the soft murmurs of the young lovers fade into silence. "As stretched thin as I feel right now, that boy is a hundred times worse," Cap murmured.

"He is." Arianna nodded, waving at her companion guards to follow as she led the former Captain back to what used to be his office. "For one moment's weakness, he has paid more than he should have."

"Eh?"

"He is the one who realized the meaning of the mark, and for one second, saw it as a way to be free of the burden of a kingdom he never wanted. But he never realized it would bring more ties and more trouble than not." Arianna let him open the door for her and preceded him into the room. "He has paid and paid thrice over for that."

"He's ready to break, Your Majesty. One doesn't have to look far to see that."

“No, one doesn’t. For all the distress this has caused your daughter, he has had double that.”

Cap moved around the desk to examine some of the papers scattered on the top. “Family and duty. They don’t always coincide, but when they do, it is a slippery and dangerous slope.” He read over a schedule, and picked up a quill to make a notation. “I thank providence that I did not want the position back after Cassandra returned to us.”

“Perhaps that was a wise decision, old friend.” Arianna said. “If you are able to handle things from here, I have my own duties to attend.”

He offered her a smile. “I’ll be fine, Your Majesty. Your daughter guards mine like a wolf with cubs, so I know I can go about this with a lighter load.”

“Rapunzel is like that. I shall see you at dinner.”   
  
“I will be taking mine down in the infirmary, Your Majesty. Both so your own daughter may have a chance to rest and so I do not do something foolish.”

“Ah.”

Arianna let herself out, the two guards falling into place behind her. She was nearly to her chambers when a throat was cleared nearby. Startled from her own thoughts, she looked up into Friedborg’s face. Her lady-in-waiting curtsied and offered her a folded note. She recognized Freidborg’s handwriting. “Is it that important, that you need report now?”

Friedborg nodded, dipped into another curtsy and took herself off with a grace that those who did not know her would be surprised at.

Arianna waited only long enough to close the door behind her before she opened the note. If Friedborg considered it important enough to report to her in public, it must have been important. She read over the notes in Freidborg’s neat handwriting, her stomach dropping further with each new line. “Oh— my poor boy. What has happened?” she breathed quietly.  _ And what must I do to fix it... _

~

Cap slipped into the infirmary to find Rapunzel sitting by the head of her still-sleeping husband’s cot. She looked tired, but she was singing softly, something about  _ “saving what once was mine.”  _ But she looked up when he entered and offered him a tired smile. “She hasn’t woken back up yet, but the surgeons say that the pain-killers that they’ve been giving her are supposed to help her sleep so she can heal.”

He nodded. “It’s something I’m familiar with. Enough guard injuries and you learn a few things.” He gazed down at Eugene, who was still asleep. “How is he doing?”

Rapunzel bit her lip. “Nightmares. Lots of them. He’s not sleeping well.”

“I daresay he hasn’t been since this whole thing started. If it wasn’t my daughter mad at him, it was certainty that your father was. And then once Edmund came, well—”   
  
Rapunzel nodded in agreement, and then paused, a small crease forming between her brow. “Wait... my dad? He’s not mad at Eugene.”

“Perhaps not, Your Highness, but Frederic— when he has a scheme in mind, he does not always pay attention to the fallout on those around him. And I’m afraid some of it has fallen square on your husband's shoulders.” Cap grimaced down at Eugene for a moment before snapping his attention back to Rapunzel. “Have you rested at all?”   
  
Startled out of her thoughts, she shook her head. “No— I couldn’t. Cass always was there to protect me, now it’s my turn to protect her.”   
  
“I appreciate that, Princess, more than I can say, but she won’t thank you for wearing yourself to a thread doing it.” Cap pointed at the cot. “I’m here now. I can watch over her. Why don’t you lay down with your husband and get some rest. I’ll wake you when dinner arrives.”

Rapunzel sighed, defeated. “I— I’ve been afraid to close my eyes.”   
  
“Rest, Princess. On my oath, I will wake you if anything happens.” He took the chair next to Cass’s bed and picked up her limp hand to press a kiss to the back of it. 

She rose and came over to brush hair out of Cass’s face. “I know you will. I’ll lie down for a bit, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep, though.” She patted his shoulder and slotted herself into the tiny amount of space that her husband wasn’t taking up on the cot.

Just as he thought, as soon as she had relaxed, sleep all but pounced on her. With a silent huff of laughter, he draped a sheet over the pair of them before returning to Cass’s bedside.

“She finally fall asleep?” The voice was low and he glanced up to see Cass watching the princess. Her eyes were cloudy with pain and she winced, shifting a little. 

Cap quickly rose to help her, propping another pillow behind her so she could sit up enough to drink a little water. “She did. How long have you been awake?”

“On an’ off. Hurts too much to stay asleep. The both o’ em are worn out.” Cass shifted again.

Cap rested a hand on her forehead, alarmed to find it hotter than it should have been. “You’re running a fever. I’ll get a doctor.”

She grimaced at him. “Dad—”

“Don’t even, young lady. You know as well as I do a fever isn’t a good thing.”

“No, but the medicines’re worse.” She made a face as he resettled her against the pillows.

“Cassandra, you haven't liked taking any medicine since you were a child. One would think you had grown out of it. Now rest while I get the doctor.”

Like the child she had been long ago, she stuck her tongue out at him, but obediently laid her head back down.

The doctor he fetched checked her eyes and unwrapped the bandages to check the wound for signs of infection.

In his years as a soldier, Cap had see any number of injuries, even delivered the mercy stroke once or twice for men who would otherwise die slowly, but he still winced at the sight of the wound in his daughter’s belly. He had been told, but seeing it was another matter. It was clear that had she not been wearing silk to blunt the force of the arrow, he would be mourning her already. The silk had distributed enough of the force of the arrow that it had not pierced her vitals, though she was one solid bruise from breastband to under the edge of her smallclothes. He could see where the skin had been cut, probably to ease the painful-looking swelling. 

It hurt to see his daughter so grievously injured, though, like the injury was to his own flesh.

“No additional swelling, no heat. There doesn’t appear to be any infection,” the doctor told him as he rewrapped Cass’s abdomen, directing an assistant to brew a tea of comfrey, willowbark and other herbs. Cap took it from the assistant to coax Cass to drink. She made faces at the bitter brew, but drank it willingly enough, which had to be an indication of how much pain she was in. The doctor made another cup of a different medicine, telling him to give it to her when the pain got worse again. Not if it did, but when. 

When the doctor had left them alone again, Cap did something he hadn’t done since she was a child, sitting beside her and smoothing a hand over her curls, humming softly. She leaned her too-warm cheek against his hand and sighed. “Guess I wasn’t that strong after all, huh?”

“Cassandra,” he said firmly. “You’re hurt. That has nothing to do with how strong you are. How many more— including those two— might be dead or wounded if you had not been there?”

She mulled that over for a moment. 

“A lot more,” he finished for her before she could come up with a response. “And your brother and the woman he loves would both be among them. You know that.”

“My brother—” she rolled the words around in her mouth, like she was unsure of whether she liked them or not. “That’s just weird, Dad.”

“That you have a sibling, or that it’s Fitzherbert?” He chuckled, earning another moment of her sticking her tongue out at him.

“You’re still my dad though. So wouldn’t make him your kid too?”

“Not how it works and I thank the gods for that.” 

She giggled tiredly and then winced.

He frowned and fetched the cup. “Here.”

“Do I have to? It makes me feel sleepy an’ just ugh—”

“It’s that or hurting, honey. And I’d rather you sleep and heal.”

“Fine, fine.” She groused, but took the drug without further complaint, following it with a few swallows of water to wash the taste away.

It wasn’t too much longer that she drifted off to sleep again and he pulled out the paperwork he’d brought to keep him company.

~

Eugene startled awake and nearly fell off the narrow cot, which seemed to have gotten narrower while he slept. “Shh—” he heard. “You’ll wake the princess.”

Eugene glanced down to see Rapunzel tucked up against his side, her mouth slightly open as she snored faintly. He found a chuckle escaping. She always denied that she snored. “You’re my witness. She’s snoring, right?” He lifted his head to see Cap sitting next to Cass’s cot, a quill in one hand and papers scattered on a wheeled tray in front of him.

“Do you honestly think I’m getting into the middle of that argument?”

Eugene carefully disentangled himself from his wife, sitting up and groping after his boots.

“The cooks should be sending up some dinner shortly,” Cap told him.

“Why did you let me sleep so long?” Eugene grumbled.

“Because you needed it. Same as you need food, so sit back down and wait for dinner to get here.”

“Not hungry. And not my commander, remember.”

“Advisor, and I’m  _ advising _ you to sit there and eat something.”

“That almost sounded like a threat.”

“Friendly advice, Fitzherbert. And it will continue to be friendly advice if you stay seated.”

“I really don’t have time for this—”    
  
“I’ve made you the time. You forget, I did your job for decades. I’ve made arrangements for Morrison and Clement’s services and spoken to their kin. The rotation schedule for guards on the Royal family is finalized. Also for the guards at the infirmary, since I know you have no intention of leaving your sister unprotected.”

“I—”

“The weekly rotation is also ready. It needs your signature, and that’s done.”

“Make me look bad, why don’t you?”

“Again, I have years of experience on you.” Cap stood and held out a sheaf of paper. “Now sign this and sit there and relax until the food gets here.”

Scowling, Eugene took the papers and flipped through them. Unsurprisingly, everything was in perfect order. It annoyed him and his resulting signature was an angry slash across the paper. “Why are you doing this?”

“You’ll have to be more specific than that, Fitzherbert.”

“You know! What are you trying to prove?”

“Not one damned thing. What I am trying to do is keep you from drowning. The queen isn’t the only one who noticed that you’re barely holding together. I told you before, some sacrifices are too much, and you’re sacrificing your sanity right now.”

Eugene's head shot up and his voice cracked badly. “What?”

“Do you think I can’t see? I— I haven’t been in your exact position, but I can see it eating away at you. I’ve seen men fall to it before.”

Eugene felt the world shatter like glass around him. He  _ knew _ — Cap knew what he’d done— what he’d become. “I—”

“So will you take an old soldier's advice?”

“How can you—?” Eugene couldn’t even finish.

“Because it’s not in me to judge. Now, please, sit and eat something.”

Eugene sagged like he had no strength left. His voice was small in his own ears. "— yes, sir.”

There was a rap on the infirmary door. “Sir, the food is here.”

Cap looked up from Eugene’s broken form. “I’ll be right there.” He strode to the door and accepted the cart from the cook’s helper and wheeled it into the room, planting it between the two beds before pulling the cover off and taking a cautious sniff.

That seemed to stir Eugene out of his funk a bit. “You don't think—?”

“No, but until we are certain there are no more of them, better to be overcautious than dead.”

“...” Eugene shut his mouth and nodded, glancing down at Rapunzel, sleeping beside him. He stroked her hair gently. “Yeah.” He breathed a sigh. “There is one of them left alive, you know. One died when— when I cut the lines they had used to get into place. He fell badly. The other— Dad killed one of them— he was— very upset that Cassandra got hurt.” he said cautiously.

Cap made a small noise under his breath as he lifted the drink to examine it too. “But you captured one?”

“... Yeah.”

“Has he given you any information?”

“.... not yet.”

“We’ll see about that later. For now, eat something.”

“I don’t think I can.” Eugene said with brutal honesty.

“Try.” Cap’s voice was uncompromising.

“How can I?” Eugene swallowed hard, his gorge rising again.

“Because you need strength— to protect them.” Cap waved at the two sleeping women.

Eugene stared down at Rapunzel’s sleeping face, tracing her freckles with loving eyes. “I—”

Cap shoved a bowl in his hands. Eugene looked down. Soup.

“I know how it feels when your stomach is in a knot, boy. Do you think mine hasn’t been since I got the message that my daughter was so badly hurt?” Cap put a spoon in the bowl. “Eat that and I promise I won’t wake up your wife. Don’t and I will. You know she’ll force you to eat.”

It wasn’t quite a laugh. “Yeah. Sounds like her.”

“Then eat.”

Obediently, Eugene lifted the bowl and sipped at the warm, meaty broth. Thankfully, it went down easy past the lump in his throat. He kept his eyes on the two sleeping figures, reminding himself with every bite that he needed the food to keep protecting them. It helped and he managed to get all of it down. He set the bowl aside and smoothed a hand over Rapunzel’s cheek. “Hey, Sunshine. Wanna wake up and eat something?”

She stirred, lashes fluttering against his fingers. “Mmmn?”

“C’mon, beautiful. You need some food.”

Yawning, Rapunzel sat up. It took a moment for her eyes to lose the fogginess of sleep, but a quick glance around the room woke her quickly enough. “Oh— I guess I did fall asleep.”

Cap chuckled, handing her a glass of water. “You were too tired not to. Once you relaxed, that was it.”

Rapunzel sipped at the water. “You were right.”

Eugene slipped easily into his more flamboyant style. “What tickles your fancy, milady? We have delicacies designed to delight, soups to sweetly swoon, meats to make you melt—”

Rapunzel giggled. “Ooh, thank you, garçon.”

“Anything for you,” Eugene bowed at the waist and presented her a plate of fruits and cheeses to begin with. Laughing, she took it from him and plucked up a bimberry to press to his lips. He accepted it with a smile. “Sweet, but not as sweet as your smile.”

Cheeks tinted red, she giggled.

Cap watched the display with a raised eyebrow. He was familiar with the egotistical attitude, it was one Eugene had cultivated when he first came to Corona with the Lost Princess, and part of what had rubbed him the wrong way so often. But he had been more stable in later times, and solid enough that Cap had felt no shame in handing off the job to him. But seeing him act like this again sent a faint alarm thrilling through him.

He watched in silence as Rapunzel teasingly fed bites of her food to her husband, usually in response to something he said. He could see the concern in her eyes, hidden under the laughter, and knew her teasing was a way to make sure Eugene was eating. Clever girl.

He finished his own meal and checked Cass’s temperature again. She was still warm to the touch, but not the hectic heat of fever he feared. Still keeping an eye on Rapunzel and Eugene, he spoke to the assistant about brewing more tea for Cass, perhaps with some feverfew to bring her temperature down. She nodded and went about mixing herbs in a sachet. She filled a teapot from the kettle kept going at all times and dropped the muslin bag into the hot water, handing it to him with a dosing cup and instructions to not give it to her more than once every two to three hours.

Rapunzel was obviously listening and came over to help him stir Cass and prop her enough for a dose. When she had subsided back into slumber, he settled the pot on the table by her bed and turned his attention to Eugene. “If the princess has everything in hand, perhaps you and I should have a discussion of the attack.”

Eugene swallowed, but Rapunzel patted the hilt of the knife stuck through her sash and nodded. “I’ve got this.”

With a sigh, Eugene kissed his wife and rose to his feet. When they were outside the door, he paused and looked grimly at Cap. “I suppose you want to talk to the surviving assassin." 

“He’s the only one who knows who paid for this attack on the royal family.” Cap frowned. “Do we know if it was meant for the Coranan royals or your father?”

“Don’t know. But all the bolts were aimed for the dais where all the members of  _ both _ royal families were.” Eugene grimaced. “I would venture a guess, that anyone dead would have been a bonus. The assassin called us soft Coronans.” He straightened his shoulders and something dark glittered in his eyes. “I proved I’m not as soft as he thought.”

Cap thought that smile was never an expression he should see on his replacement's face. Even if he wanted the man dead for what had happened to Cass, seeing that look on Eugene's normally easy-going face was disturbing in the extreme.

Without another word, Eugene led him down into the very same dungeons he’d once occupied.

Jingling the keys merrily, Eugene opened the cell door and waved Cap in ahead of him. 

The battered-looking assassin looked up, and his eyes went wide and frightened as Eugene closed the door behind them with a disturbing click.

"Keep him away from me!" The assassin hissed, cradling a badly broken hand to his chest.

"Aww, but we're having such fun getting to know each other, dirtbag." There was an edge sharp enough to cut under the jovial tone. “Besides, consider your alternatives. This guy here? My former boss, who didn’t even blink at sending me to my own execution. And that knight you hurt, my sister?  _ His _ daughter. And let’s not forget Cass herself, who I’m sure would love to have some one on one time with you after she’s finished healing from that barbed arrow you stuck her with. And she’s always been far more dangerous than me.”   
  
Cap wasn’t sure that was true anymore. Not with what he was seeing at this moment. It was just like back at the infirmary, Eugene had, in entering this room, slipped into yet another persona, a terrifying one. But in his heart, he didn’t think it any more real than the carefree attitude he’d shown his wife earlier. The worn out face was the real one. Some sleep and food had just helped him recover to the point where he could reapply those masks.

That didn’t mean this didn’t make Eugene dangerous. The thing with people who wore those kinds of masks was there was always a risk the mask could become the real face. The way the assassin was cradling his injured hand away from Eugene said that much.

“And that’s not even counting your own group. Don’t think they'd much like an agent who not only fails to kill any of his marks, but gets captured.” Eugene crouched down, making sure his face was as close to the assassin’s as he could without touching it. “But don’t worry friend, you’ve got me, not them. Now I think I’ve given you enough time to take your new situation into account, so what do you say? You give up your employers, which gives me someone new to focus on, or we get to spend some more quality time together. Like now for instance.” Eugene slowly reached towards the assassin’s hand.

“The Dark Priesthood! The O-Order of the Dark Crown!” The assassin yelped, flinching away. “The priest gave us the contract! They hired us to clear out the heirs who were too weak to hold the throne and the Coronan royalty who weakened them thus. We were instructed to aim for the Princess because both twins would take the shot for her!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: A race against time. A candle in the wind. Someone goes down.


	12. Grave Candles and Mad Dogs

Eugene felt his blood freeze. Almost reflexively, he slammed the assassin’s head in the wall to knock him out, turned and bolted from the room. Behind him, he could hear Cap shouting orders and men scrambling to obey.  _ Please, don't let me be too late— _

Eugene was running up the stairs for all he was worth, legs pumping and heart pounding. Back when he was stealing the crown, he’d learned every inch of the layout, every possible route through the castle and studied them till they became second nature. This all came back as he rushed to the infirmary, taking the swiftest path possible. 

He skidded around the corner and almost went into the wall before he could correct. His heart froze as he saw the guards slumped over by the door, a strange candle burning bright blue between them. From the doorway he saw Rapunzel collapsed on the floor, the knife he had given her still clenched in one hand, and the priest his father had brought with him standing above Cass with a dagger raised above his head. He sprang for the door, adrenaline pumping through his veins with every beat of his heart as he saw the dagger plunge down.  _ Rapunzel— Cass—  _

Then all he saw was blood. Blood everywhere. He couldn’t focus until he felt strong hands lifting him up.  _ When had he fallen? _

“They’re alive, son. Cass, the Princess, your men, they’re alive.” 

_ They were? _

Cap wouldn’t lie, but the blood. Eugene saw the priest dead on the floor and the bloody sword in his hands.  _ Oh. _

Shaking off Cap’s hands, he dropped the blood-smeared blade and stumbled on numb feet to where Rapunzel still lay sprawled on the floor. “Sunshine? Sweetheart? Baby, please wake up!” He cupped her face in both hands. Her breath was warm against his palm, but she didn’t stir. Panic bubbled up in his throat.

He heard a hiss behind him and all he could think was there was another attacker. Cradling Rapunzel close, he slewed around, ready to defend her with his bare hands.

Cap was standing over the candle, the pitcher of water from Cass’s bedside upended in one hand. The candle guttered and spat unnerving green sparks before dying completely in the puddle. At the same time, Rapunzel stirred in his grasp and the two men at the door straightened up, making bleary noises of confusion.

Cap crouched to examine the half-melted candle, carefully not touching it. “Grave Candle! I didn’t know there was anyone still left that could make these.”

“What’s a Grave Candle?” Conli, one of the guards who had come with Cap, asked as he helped one of the befogged guards back to his feet.

“Old. Old, dark magic.” Cap replied grimly. “Light one and everyone in range goes down, blind and deaf to the world. Let it burn itself out and they burn out  _ with it.” _ He glanced up, shadows under his eyes. “Find a piece of silk to wrap it in. Silk will insulate the magic.”

Rapunzel stirred in Eugene’s arms and he looked down at a tearing sound. She had torn a sleeve off her dress, offering it to him with a shaking hand, and blinking up at him with heavy-lidded eyes. He caught her hand and pressed a desperate kiss to it before passing off the silk material to a guard, who in turn gave it to Cap. Careful not to touch the candle itself, Cap wrapped it up in the cloth. He set it inside the pitcher he had used to douse it and rose to his feet.

He looked down at Eugene who was still reassuring himself that Rapunzel was okay. “I think, son, it’s time we had a talk with your father.” His tone was sepulchral, and his eyes fastened on the body sprawled on the tiled floor.

“R-right—” Eugene struggled to pull himself together. “Conli, Elliott— you two go ask King Edmund to come here. Politely, please. I don’t have the energy to deal with another incident.” Wearily he accepted the hand that Cap held out to him, pulling himself up with it and then scooping Rapunzel up off the floor and depositing her gently on one of the cots. He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I’ve got this, love, you just get your bearings back.” It was clear that the effects of the Grave Candle were not so easily shaken off.

Cap had pulled the sheet off another cot and draped it over the body. The blood staining the white fabric turned Eugene’s stomach and he had to look away. As he did, he spotted spatters of the damning color on the edge of the cot where Cass lay.  _ So close— _

Still shaking a little, Eugene swallowed down his nausea and cautiously stripped the stained sheets away from Cass’s sleeping form. 

“What are you—?” Cap began.

Grabbing a clean sheet, Eugene swaddled her bandaged form in it and carefully lifted her from the bloodied cot, praying all the while to anything that would listen that she would not wake in his arms. He nodded to an empty cot clear of the mess. “Move that to a defensible corner, sir.”

Cap looked at the bloodied sheet and nodded, shoving the cot into a corner, and positioning it so whoever was lying in it had a clear line of sight to the door. He and Eugene shared a grim smile and Eugene eased her down onto the unsullied cot. Cap helped him settle her, working in perfect, silent accord to get her comfortably positioned.

There was a tap at the door. “Sir? King Edmund is here as requested.”

Eugene heaved a sigh and straightened up, pulling a divider to hide the rest of the room from Cass if she did wake. She’d probably try to get up and kick the body on the floor a few times. The thought gave him enough energy to dig up a half-smile. “Send him in.”

Edmund came into the room, eyes wide with concern, “Son? What’s going on?” His gaze darted to the shrouded body on the floor and the generous spray of blood around it.

“The last assassin cracked and gave me the name of who had paid for the hit.” Eugene said flatly. He grabbed the bloodied fabric and pulled it away. “Him.”

Edmund was white as the sheet as he stared down at the body sprawled in death's rictus on the floor of the infirmary. 

"Is she—?" Edmund began, his hand closing into a shaking fist. His dark eyes darted to the empty cots around them.

Eugene cocked his head at the divider. "She’s safe. Over there. He never touched her.” He sucked in a pained breath through his teeth. “If I had been just one moment later, though—”

Edmund's eyes darted down to the knife, still clutched in fingers gone stiff with rigor. The end of the hilt was decorated with a three-pointed black crown in a crystal. Rage filled Edmund's eyes and he crushed the gem underfoot. "Oathbreakers!" he hissed. "The Order of the Dark Crown is no more. I will see them  _ all _ destroyed!"

"You might want to make sure it was all of them and not just one traitor. We can ask our new friend when he wakes up again, if he knows. But yeah, if it's all of them, they're _ gone."  _ Eugene kept his head down and glared at nothing. He didn't want to look or think about anything that just happened. It was too much. All of this was too much. Just too— 

He wasn’t aware of his knees buckling until he was on the floor.

“Eugene—!”

“Son!”

“Captain!” Yelped one of the guards.

Cap caught Eugene before he faceplanted on the tiles. He bodily hauled the younger man over to a cot and yelled for one of the medics. 

He got a groggy, “Dad?” from the curtained off corner and knew he’d have to explain to Cassandra before she tried to get up and see what was going on.

Rapunzel struggled up from her own cot to hover worriedly over him. “Eugene!”

“What’s wrong with my son?!” Edmund demanded.

“Shut it!” Cap bellowed. It worked and he got instant silence. “Doctor, you get over here and take a look at this bonehead. He’s about done in.” He glanced at the curtain. “It’s fine, honey, your brother did something dumb. Go back to sleep.” He glared at the milling guards. “Unless you still can’t stand, take it out of here. This is a place of healing, not a barracks common. Princess, sit down before you fall down. Yes, on his cot is fine.” He glanced at Edmund, lips set in a thin frown. “Let the doctor look at him and you’ll find out. Demanding answers when nobody has any is only going to annoy the medic and keep them from getting those answers.” He’d regret yelling at him later, he was sure, but right now he was more hindrance than help.

Thankfully, his years at command did the trick and the guards filed out, helping the two who had been hit by the Grave Candle. They’d be fine once they had a chance to sleep it off. 

Rapunzel had sat down at the head of her exhausted husband’s cot and was stroking his hair with a trembling hand. The doctor moved in to do his work, unperturbed by the body on the floor. 

Edmund glowered, but subsided.

Cap sighed and went to peer around the divider. Cass, as usual, had ignored his advice and gotten herself mostly upright, seated on the edge of the cot. She was hunched over, breathing harshly and he could see fresh blood seeping through her bandages. "Honey—" he moved to her side. "If you don't rest and heal, you'll hurt yourself more."

"What'd he do?" She asked through gritted teeth as he gently urged her to lay back down. 

"Fainted." Cap answered shortly. He wasn't going to tell her it was after he'd come charging to her rescue. "He hasn't been eating or sleeping properly for a while now."

Cassandra grimaced. "My fault. When Hect—"

"I know. And it was none of it your fault. As much as you hate to admit it, you were the victim. And his stress is no blame of yours. He was put in a bad situation too. Perhaps a worse one than I thought, even."

An assistant came around the curtain with a cup of the painkillers that Cass was taking and tsked at the sight of the blood on her bandages. She efficiently shooed Cap, saying, "Looks like she pulled her stitches. I don't think you want to be here to watch me fix them."

Cap let himself be shooed away, leaning down to brush a kiss across her forehead. She was still a little warm with fever but seemed more coherent. "Rest, sweetheart. I'll let you know if it's anything more than exhaustion."

Cass smiled up at him, though the pain was still visible in the lines around her mouth. "Thanks, Dad."

Cap smiled down at her and went back past the divider. Two guards had bundled up the priest’s body and were hefting it onto a cart while an assistant was fetching pails of steaming water and harsh soap to scrub the blood away. A third guard joined her at the cleaning efforts.

Edmund glared at the body as they carted it toward the door. “Burn that. Burn it and give the ashes back to the sea. May the mud crawlers have joy of him.”

Cap agreed, with one small addendum. “Strip the body first. Let him meet his gods as he came from them, naked and defenseless.”

This got a grim smile from Edmund and he nodded. Cap decided now wasn’t the time to mention the Grave Candle and the concern that he might have another, or worse, in his belongings. 

The doctor had sat Eugene up and with the help of the princess was trickling water into his mouth. Rapunzel was pulling a trick he’d seen farriers use to dose horses, stroking the line of his throat to urge him to swallow. Her green eyes were worried and wet with tears. Finally they finished the small bowl of water and the doctor pulled out a bottle with something in it that glittered darkly red in the light. He must have felt the tension of everyone in the room, for he explained calmly, “A cordial to strengthen him. It’s made with blackberries— hence the color— and if you wish, I’ll sample it before I give it to him.”

“Nothing against you, physician,” Edmund grumbled, “But there have been altogether too many assassination attempts around here.”

The doctor glanced at the blood on the floor. “Indeed.” Without another word, he took a draught from the bottle. When he did not fall dying to the floor, he commenced to trickle some down Eugene’s throat.

Whatever was in it, it worked. Eugene stirred and coughed, trying to push the bottle away. “Uugh, no—” he protested. “That tastes like hell.”

“Good, that means it’s working.” The doctor poured another measure into Eugene’s mouth and pinched his nose shut to make him swallow it.

Eugene spluttered. “Dammit! I said no!” he said after he had gotten it down.

“Then do not work yourself into such a state again.” The doctor wasn’t impressed. He turned to Cap and reported. “He’s dehydrated and in dire need of food and rest. From the looks of it, he’s been shorting himself both. Dilated eyes and racing heartbeat, so I would venture to say he’s under too much stress.”

“I’m fine,” Eugene grumbled, leaning away from the doctor. Rapunzel slipped an arm around his shoulders, but said nothing.

“You’re not, lad,” Cap scolded. “But we’ll see to it that you get there.”

“Yes,” Edmund agreed, for once without a glare in Cap’s direction. “Son, you cannot keep going this way.”

“I have to—” Eugene began

“No—” Cap cut him short with a sharp gesture. “You do not. You are mortal as the rest of us and working yourself this way is a grand way to kill yourself, and leave your wife and m— your sister alone.” He corrected quickly. “Would either of them thank you for it?”

“No,” Rapunzel agreed. “We wouldn’t.”

Eugene sagged. “Et tu, Sunshine?”

“You know we love you and seeing you hurting like this—” Rapunzel pulled him tight in one of her breath-stealing hugs. “How much do you think it hurts me? And would hurt Cass, if she could see you right now?”

“Y’know, I can hear you over here—  _ oww, dammit!—  _ Raps,” Came the shout from the other side of the divider. “And I’ll kick your ass, Fitzherbert. I didn’t save your life for you to throw it away. I swear, stab me with that  _ one more time—” _

Cass’s yelling seemed to have an effect. Eugene sucked in a deep breath. “You and what army, Sister Slither?”

“Oh, that’s it! Get over here so I can beat some sense into you!” Cass retorted furiously. “I did not save you from assassins so you could die of  _ stupid!” _

“Come and get me!”

“Children!” Cap and Edmund shouted in almost the same breath, before exchanging a startled look. 

Harrumphing, Edmund looked away. Cap scowled at him.

Eugene seemed a bit more like himself, though. Maybe the bickering with Cass had provided some normalcy in a world that had to feel like it had turned itself upside down around him. 

Eugene rubbed his forehead and leaned his cheek against the top of Rapunzel’s head. “Fine, fine. You win— I’ll— I’ll take a break, just long enough to recover, okay?”

“You’ll take as long a break as you need to be up to snuff again,” Edmund said, striding over to lay a heavy hand on Eugene’s shoulder. “I cannot command you, as do those whom hold your loyalty, but as your father, I  _ ask _ you to take care of yourself.”

Something flickered in Eugene’s eyes, but he lowered his head in a nod. “I already said I would.”

Edmund remained there, unmoving, until Eugene gave up and looked him in the face. “I promise, Dad. I’ll— I’ll let myself recover. I’m sorry for worrying you.”

Edmund lifted his hand from Eugene’s shoulder to ruffle his hair. “Don’t be sorry, my boy. Just don’t do it again. It hurts me to have both of my children so ill done by.” He smiled down at Rapunzel. “And my daughter-in-law.”

Rapunzel offered him a tired smile. “I’m okay. I think I just need a little sleep, one that wasn’t whatever that priest did to us.”

Eugene pushed himself to his feet. “C’mon, Sunshine, let’s get you down for a nap. Cap—”

“I’ve got this, lad. I’ll stay on guard here. Take two men with you to stand guard. Until we know if that was the only group he contacted, we’ll all stay on high alert.”

Eugene sighed and his shoulders loosened. “Right. Thanks, Cap.”

“Go. Take care of yourself.” Cap nodded and held open the door for them. More than half-supporting each other, Rapunzel and Eugene stumbled out into the corridor, Eugene waving at a pair of guards stationed nearby to follow them.

~

After shadowing his weary son and wife all the way to the door of their chambers— just to ease his own mind, not because he thought there were more assassins, though his hand rested close to his axe the entire way— Edmund returned to his own guest room. Red rage filled him, not only had his children been targeted, but by priests of his own court, the men once trusted by the first Sorcerer-King to keep the secrets of the Mark. Leaning back against the door, he roared angrily and flung his axe at an inoffensive mounted elk-head. The axe cleaved it completely in twain, but his anger still burned as brightly.

“Hector! _**Attend me!”**_ He bellowed, knowing his companion was still hiding from his newest misfortunes in his chambers. Something about ghosts in the walls, calling his name, or some such folderol, Edmund hadn’t been paying much attention.

“Sire?” Hector appeared at his side with his customary grace.

Edmund’s hand shot out and closed around his throat, pinning him to the nearest wall like a bug.  _ “Tell me—” _ he said in a low, dangerous voice.  _ “That you knew nothing of this. _ Tell me that you did not know what that slimy bastard was plotting.”

Hector choked, but knew better than to struggle. Edmund could crush his throat in a heartbeat and he knew it. “Wh-what slimy bastard, Sire? I know a lot of those.”

Edmund released him with a dark laugh. “That, if nothing else, could convince me you knew nothing of this. That spavined son of a she-goat and a sneeze-weasel, the priest of the Order of the Dark Crown, that’s who.”

“I have not seen him, my Liege, not since the assassination attempt disrupted your plans.” Hector answered, rubbing at his bruised neck. 

“Because he was off plotting the deaths of my children!” Edmund growled, yanking his axe from the ruined taxidermy and destroying a potted fern. 

Hector reacted with honest surprise, “That scrawny priest?”

“My son got it out of the surviving assassin. He found him standing over my daughter’s sickbed with a dagger and every intention of ending her life.” Edmund glowered at the remains of the fern. Then he drew a heavy breath and turned all his formidable attention on Hector. There was a glitter of madness in his dark eyes. “I have a new mission for you. You will not be helping Adira restore the castle after all. You will be hunting down every single member of the Order and finding out whether they condoned this attack. If they did, it is your job to eliminate the stain on our kingdom’s honor that is the Order.”

Hector let a feral smile curl across his lean face. “Gladly, Sire. I will take  _ great _ pleasure in ridding you of them.”

“I trust you to discern which were involved in this and eliminate all who were or condoned it. I will not stand for this. They will suffer for their crimes against my family.” Edmund’s hand tightened until the haft of the axe creaked.

Hector grinned wider. “As you command, My King. It’s time for me to do what I do best, hunt.”

Edmund nodded, thunking the axe heavily down on the table that had held the unfortunate fern. “I will go ask of our hosts to prepare the balloon for you to leave as soon as possible. I want you on the hunt at once.”

“Of course, Sire. Will you want souvenirs?”

“No— _no,_ on second thought, I will want the skull of the high priest of the Order. He doubtless had knowledge of this. I want to give it to my daughter.”

“It will be done.”

“Good, get your things together. I want you on the hunt as soon as we can have a balloon readied.”

Hector bowed and took himself out. 

Edmund glowered at the empty room for a moment, and then turned to take his request to his hosts. The Order would regret their interference with his family. Briefly, but they would regret it—

~

Rapunzel stirred. She had barely managed to change into her nightclothes before curling up on the bed and falling asleep. She had felt Eugene curl up around her, but now her back was cold. Rubbing crusty eyes, she sat up. She was still tired, but felt worlds better than the strange fog she’d been in after waking up from whatever the priest had done to her and the guards. “Eugene?”

“Right here, Sunshine.”

She found him sitting in one of the chairs, pulled close to the doors opening out onto her balcony. Though he had changed into his own nightclothes, there was a sword resting by his leg. There were dark bags under his eyes in the light of the lamp he had hung from the door latch. “Are you—?”

“Keeping watch.”

“Eugene—” she scolded. “We’re in the highest tower of the castle. No one is climbing up here.”

“They could.”

Rapunzel rose to her feet, taking note of the time on the ornate clock. Well after midnight. Sighing, she took her husband’s hands and tugged him up, steering him back toward the bed. “Come and lay down, love.”

“I don’t think I can sleep right now.”

“You should try.” She urged him along. “Have you had anything to eat or drink? The doctor said you needed both.”

He gestured at a carafe of water sitting on the floor by his chair. It was only about half full. Beside it was a plate with an apple core and the stems of a cluster of grapes. “I promised.”

She kissed his cheek, pushing him down on the coverlet. “You did. Thank you for that.” Seating herself so her back was against the headboard, she tugged him down so he was resting with his head in her lap and worked her fingers through his hair, gently massaging his scalp.

Rapunzel kept stroking his hair like that for several long minutes, but he could not settle. His blood was still fizzing in his veins like one of Varian's potions might. He sighed heavily. "Sorry, Sunshine. Maybe I should go to my own quarters for now so you can get some more sleep. I don't think I'm gonna be able to wind down tonight."

She regarded him for a long moment, green eyes unreadable. She rose from the bed and grabbed a wrapper hung up on the back of a chair, covering her nightdress. "Come on."

He regarded her quizzically, but obeyed, kicking feet into slippers and putting on his own robe. "Where are we going, sweetheart?"

She took his hand but didn't answer, leading him through the night-dim corridors. It wasn't until they were facing the guards (men he'd stationed there himself) outside the infirmary that he realized where she had been leading. "Rapunzel?"

She opened the door. Cap, seated by the night-lamp with a lapdesk covered in papers, looked up, startled. He had a dagger in his hand before he realized it was them. Rapunzel smiled at him and led Eugene over to the corner where Cassandra was sleeping. She let go of his hand long enough to grab a cot and haul it bodily between the only door and the corner. "Sunshine—?"

She ignored him to grab a second and butt it up against the first. She dusted off her hands. "There. Not as comfortable as our bed, but I think we'll both sleep better right here." she said softly.

Eugene laughed weakly and let her pull him down on the cots. She pulled the dagger he had given her out of the sash of her wrapper (when had she grabbed that?) and tucked it under his pillow before wrapping her arms around him from behind. He could see Cass clearly in the light from the lamp and something in his chest eased and the burning in his blood quieted. 

"You know me better than I know myself, Sunshine."

She laughed against his neck. "I know how I feel too, love."

With her curled against him and Cass in clear sight, he was asleep in moments. If he dreamed, he didn’t remember it.

~

"Are you sure you're up for it, son? No harm in you taking more time to recover." Cap squinted at him as if that would help him see through a lie.

Eugene pulled himself up, glad he'd had a chance to shower and change into a clean uniform. At least he knew he looked presentable. "Unless something happens, sir, all I'll be doing is sitting here keeping an eye on her," he nodded at Cass's bed. "My wife is having the kitchen bring me food and drink every couple of hours, on the advice of the doctor. I think it's a duty I can manage." 

Eugene shrugged. "You've already managed most of the scheduling and other minutia. The guards still listen to you, so they won't give you any backtalk. And frankly, Dad is sending Hector off tomorrow morning with orders to hunt down the rest of the Order. We still don't know if any more assassins were contracted. Until he’s cleaned out that nest of vipers, there's only three people outside of myself I trust in here with Cass. I'd trust Maximus but the doctors refuse to let him in. So it's you, Rapunzel and Varian. He'll be coming in after lunch to give me a break and again after dinner to take a shift. Rapunzel will take over after one to get the rest of the night and into the morning. You have the shift at nine."

"You've been busy since you woke up."

"Not much to do in the shower but think. I have to protect everyone, but right now Cass is— is the most vulnerable of all of us. So I want someone in here as a last line of defense."

"I can understand wanting to protect her, she's my little girl, after all— I just worry that you are taking on too much when you are obviously still not back to full health."

"I'll be resting— probably better here than anywhere else. I won’t fall asleep on duty, but, just— just being here, I won’t be so stressed.”

Cap’s stern expression softened. “I know, lad. I saw you last night. You were a wire-tight bundle of nerves until the Princess brought you down here.”

Rubbing the back of his neck, Eugene chuckled sheepishly. “Yeah, well—”

“I am— glad that you have come to care about my daughter the way you have.” Cap admitted, rubbing a thumb across his mustache. “She needs people in her life who do— will need them more now, with— well, with being a—”

“Princess?”

“Yes.”

“She— she was my sister before we even knew we were related.” Eugene admitted. “I told her that, when we were trying to—”

“Save her from her own folly. I know.” Cap glanced over at the sleeping figure on the bed. “She told me.”

“Really?”

“Surprisingly enough, Fitzherbert, you are one of the few people she trusts with her life, and with things that she values _more_ than her life.” Cap glanced down at Eugene’s left hand.

Eugene looked down at his gold wedding band and a slow smile crept across his lips. “We have that in common too.”

“Fine. But do not take more turns of duty than are your fair share, understood?”

“Yes, sir.” Tension eased out of his shoulders and he settled into the chair near Cass’s cot.

Cap saluted him before leaving and Eugene actually laughed when the door shut behind him.

“Why are you here again?” Cass demanded a few hours later, when she was safely tucked back into her cot after she had been woken up and aided to the water closet by one of the attendants for necessities and a change of her bandages and underclothing. She was still embarrassed and furious that she needed so much help, just to totter a few steps and with  _ other _ things. Her cheeks were red as she glared at Eugene.

“Well, because you are.” Eugene leaned forward in his chair, studying her like she was something unusual he had come across.

“I took an arrow in the gut. There’s a reason I’m here,” Cass carefully hiked herself into a better sitting position, wincing as the movement pulled at the wound. “You not so much— or did they finally figure out that there has to be something wrong with you?” She tapped a finger against her temple on the last word.   
  
Eugene reached over to the tray sitting next to his chair and lifted up a cup. The liquid inside of it was a murky gray-green and she knew it was another dose of that wretched painkiller. “No.” She hated the way it made her feel, groggy and not entirely in control of her mouth.

“Take it or I get Sunshine in here to make you.” Eugene’s voice was uncompromising.

She grimaced. “What do you care?”

He set the cup back down and started ticking off fingers. “One— you’re in pain. Two— you aren’t supposed to move too much for at least another couple of days, and this stuff makes you not want to. Three— You took an arrow in the gut; that’s reason enough. Four— you’re my sister and I’m worried about you. Is that enough or would you like more reasons?’ He lifted the cup again, tipping it towards her with a meaningful look.

With another face, Cass took the cup and downed the medicine in one long swallow. It tasted as nasty as she remembered. “Ugh—”

Surprisingly, Eugene was holding out a cup of cool clean water to wash the taste away. She took it from him and drank more than half of it to rinse the lingering flavor out of her mouth. “There, I took it. Now, really, what are you doing here?”

“Dragon Lady, I know you aren’t that dense. You took a _ fucking arrow for me! _ I’ve been worried. Maybe we aren’t exactly a conventional one, but we are family. And maybe you don’t believe it, but I do care.”

Cass licked her lips before she could get any words out. “I wasn’t— wasn’t dreaming last night, was I? I woke up and you and Raps were here.”

Eugene looked away, eyes hooded. “I couldn’t sleep. I int—  _ found out _ that the assassins were after both of us, bankrolled by that slimy priest Dad brought with him. Any other deaths would have been a bonus, but they knew we’d both try to protect Sunshine, so—”

Cass didn’t miss his hurried rewording. “You’re not telling me the whole story. Spill it, Fitzherbert.”

Eugene crossed his arms. "Look,  _ none _ of the original assassins are left free, but we don't know if there's more so it makes more sense to keep all of us together to watch each other's back. Right now the castle is closed to the public and the only reason Rapunzel is out of my sight is she's with your dad, our dad, Varian, and Maximus for protection. And even that's just for a quick errand."

"Nice. So why don't you tell me what you're desperately trying to keep me from asking about and save us both some time."

“I have no idea what you are asking about, Dragon Lady.” Eugene folded his arms and leaned back in his chair, the very image of nonchalance. 

Cass had learned too much about him to ever be fooled by it again. Grunting painfully, she hiked herself more upright, earning a “Settle down!” that had a slight edge of panic to it.

“Then start talking.” Cass carefully folded her arms across her aching stomach and glared at him. She wanted to get it out of him before the concoction she’d just downed started dulling her senses. At least the pain from moving would keep her alert for a bit longer. “Tell me what I want to know and I’ll settle down.”

“As if you even know how.” Eugene looked away. “We got the three assassins that attacked the throne room. They— aren’t a problem anymore. I— I got it out of one of them, who had ordered the hit. The Order of the Dark Crown— the priest Dad brought with him was the one who contacted them. We don’t even know if it was just one rogue priest or if the whole order is rotted through like a bad apple. We don’t know if they were the only ones he reached out to, and at this point, we may never know— because the priest is—” His voice dropped off and he swallowed hard. “Dead. I— I found him standing over you with a knife and—”

“You killed him. Good. Saves me the trouble of getting up out of my sickbed to do it.” Cass said flatly.

“Cass—” Eugene looked at her, aghast. “I ran him through. I didn’t even try to stop him— to talk him—”

“You said he was standing over me with a knife,” She cut him off firmly, meeting his eyes unflinchingly. “That makes him a mad dog in this.”

“What—?”

“You don’t give a mad dog the chance to bite you first. You put it down, hard and fast before it can spread its sickness to you or others.” 

“I could have—”

“No, you really couldn’t have,” Cass’s voice was hard as stone. “In that moment, in that split second, there was no other choice to be made. Hesitation could have cost too much,” She traced her fingers over the arrow wound in her abdomen. Eugene’s eyes followed her hands and she could see the realization in his eyes. Like him, she’d had no room for hesitation in the heat of the moment.

“You know that,” she tapped her temple again, “You know it up here, but now it’s time to believe it.” A yawn finished the sentence and she grumbled, knuckling her eyes sleepily.

“Maybe you should go back to sleep.” Eugene coaxed.

“Maybe I should before this stupid stuff makes me say things I shouldn’t.” Cass yawned again and didn’t grumble at him when he rose and helped her lie back down.

“Ooh, maybe you should stay awake then. Tell me all your secrets.” Eugene teased.

“Not in this lifetime, Fitzherjerk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So beyond Stan and Pete, there was one other guard we got the name of. It's a blink and you miss it name - and I only got it by rewatching the Tangled movie with captions on. Conli is the name of the unfortunate guard who was left to watch the Stabbington Brothers at the Snuggly Duckling. Even the Captain was never given a name in either the movie or the series. (Yes there is an ongoing joke in that too.)
> 
> A water closet is typically a small room containing a flush toilet (We'll call on Varian as the mastermind behind most of the castle's plumbing conveniences).
> 
> Next Chapter: Too many dumb mistakes are made. Rapunzel goes _off._ Max in charge. Owl saves the day.


	13. Running the Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings for a little more blood and injury in this chapter.

Frederic frowned as Arianna gingerly lowered herself into the seat of her throne, putting almost no weight on her injured arm as she took her seat. He could see the linen bandages through the thin silk of her dress sleeve and it rekindled his anger at the attack on his family. Then the tired, pinched lines of pain around her eyes registered and he squashed the anger down to say gently, “Arianna, my beloved, why don’t you go down to the infirmary and check on our daughter and her knight and avail yourself of a doctor to give you something for your arm so you can rest. I can handle things alone today. With the Castle closed to the public, all I have today are some minor duties that do not require your wisdom and delicate touch.”   
  
For a moment she looked as if she would argue with him, but then she winced. “Perhaps I will. I have not slept well.”

Frederic helped her up. “Go on, beloved. Rest well.” He kissed her forehead.

When the door closed behind her, he turned his attention to a nearby guard. “Have Captain Fitzherbert attend me.”

“Begging your leave, Sire, but the captain is on doctor-mandated rest after he collapsed the other night.” The guard said with a respectful nod.

“What?” Now the guard had all of his attention. “What happened?”

The guard swallowed, but answered gamely enough. “After the second attack on Lady Cassandra, he collapsed in the infirmary. The doctor said it was stress and dehydration and not eating and sleeping like he should have been. The doctor told him he needed rest before he drove himself into a grave. Cap has been helping him out, he might know more, Sire.”

“He’s out in town with my daughter right now,” Frederic mused. “I’ll not call them back just so I can get a report from him. Perhaps my son-in-law might benefit from some enforced idleness to recover. Rapunzel would be lost without him. Who is his Second?”

“Um, I believe that’s— Um, First Lieutenant Max, Your Majesty.”

Frederic paused at that but shook his head. “For the nonce, Captain Eugene Fitherbert is relieved of duty for medical reasons and Max is elevated to temporary captain of the guard. Cap will remain on retainer as advisor. Make note of it, Nigel.”

“At once, Sire.”

“Hopefully some rest will get him back on his feet. We need him at his best in these trying circumstances.”

“Yes, sir.” The guard retreated with relief, not used to being the focus of the kings undivided attention. He wondered at the wisdom of having a horse as temporary captain of the guard, but who was he to say anything? 

~

Eugene was still there when she was woken again for a repeat of the mortifying trip to the water closet, She grumbled at him after she was settled back into the cot with fresh bandages and underclothes, and he held out the cup of painkiller. “Don’t you have other places to be?” She groused before taking the cup and swilling it back quickly, followed by the cool water he obligingly offered afterwards.

He took the cup back from her. “Yes and no. My shift ends in about an hour and then Varian takes over. I go get some dinner, on orders from the doctors, and then come back here to sleep for a while before my next shift at watching you.”

“I hate needing to be watched, you know that right?” Cass growled.   
  
“You and I both know that, and likely so does anybody in earshot when you’re pissy about it, and yet, here I stay. We can’t risk another attack, and frankly Cass, while I’d give you fair odds on taking on any four assassins without breaking a sweat on a normal day, right now you can’t even go to the water closet on your own. Until they release you, you get a guard in here with you. So yes, I’m protecting you and stuff a sock in it if you even think about saying something about not needing protection, thanks, Dragon Lady.” Eugene leaned back in his chair after that outburst, and glanced down at a basket by his feet. “Now, are you hungry? Sunshine has the cooks bringing me snacks regularly and frankly there’s no way I can eat all of it and keep it down—” 

He cut himself off, but not fast enough to avoid the dagger-sharp glare she shot him. But surprisingly, she softened almost at the same time. “It tears you up, doesn’t it? I threw up for a week straight the first time I killed someone.”

He shot her a surprised look, but shook his head, his expression twisted into a pained grimace. “Doesn’t help. I did worse than kill a man.”

“Yeah, I got that. You’re not as clever at wordplay as you think, Fitzherbert. You tortured the assassin for info.” Cass’s voice was as flat as the stare she gave him.

Eugene paled, all the color draining from his face. “I—”

Cass heaved a sigh and then winced, one hand hovering instinctively over her bandaged middle. “Look, I’m not saying it was the right thing to do, but expediency outrules decency sometimes, and frankly, if you hadn’t cracked him, chances are we wouldn’t be having this conversation because the priest would have finished the job. And then probably gone after you too. And, Eugene— I’d be more worried about you if you weren’t all torn up about it. Only someone lacking in any human decency wouldn’t be sick over it.”

He slumped forward. “It doesn’t help, Cass.”

“It won’t, not at first. Loo—” a yawn broke her midword. “Fuck!” She shook her head frantically. “Not letting this stuff drag me down right now. Look, it’s gonna feel bad and that’s not gonna go away any time soon— and it shouldn’t. Look, for all the shit I give you, you are a decent human being, and that means knowing you are capable of stuff like that hurts. It’s when it stops bothering you, that you should be scared.” She shook her head again, blinking rapidly. “Okay— whoo— not taking that shit again.”

Eugene rose and caught her as she wobbled, wondering if the doctors had given her a stronger dose than usual, for it to be hitting her this hard. Then he realized she had had almost nothing to eat, only a little broth until they were sure there was no internal damage. So she had nothing in her stomach to slow the absorption of the drugs. “Hey, c’mon, Cass, lay back down. Rapunzel’ll kill me if you fall on your face.”

“Not— not done talkin’ about this, Fitzherbert. I got things to tell yooo—” she fought against another yawn, sagging a little as he eased her back down.

“You can yell at me on my next shift, Cass. For now, just lay back down. I’ll see when the doctors say you can have real food so the medicines stop hitting you like this.”

She slumped back against the pillows, still hanging onto awareness tooth and nail. “Not done—”

“You are for now, just rest.”

She growled at him but that little defiance seemed to take the last of her fight. Before long she was asleep, breathing softly and evenly. 

Eugene sighed, letting go of the calm he’d pretended to while she was fighting to stay awake. Her words had brought everything back, all the guilt and nausea he’d been fighting to suppress. All the things he had done—

His breath hitched and he scrubbed at his eyes, willing them to stop burning. They didn’t listen.

"I fucking tortured him. I can’t forgive myself that," Eugene slumped down and put his head in his hands, muttering the words to the slumbering Cass. "I was so angry— he hurt you, hurt the queen, hurt Sunshine seeing both of you hurt... It just came boiling up out of me and... and..." His voice broke on a ragged sob.

" 'S like a poison—” 

Eugene jerked his head up, staring with reddened eyes at Cass. He'd thought she was sound asleep by now.

“Seeps into everythin' an' taints it." Her eyes were only at half-mast and she was staring past him at something only she could see. “ 'S why I was so dangerous when I had the stone. Because I was angry an’ thinkin' 'bout how I was hurtin' Raps only made me more bitter an' angry. ‘Cause I was hurtin’ her. So I kept gettin’ angrier an’ angrier. Like a monster in your gut, eatin' everythin' else up to get stronger."

Eugene stared at her, mouth half-open, remembering the feeling of something dark coiling in his gut, ready to strike. How it had taken over his hands and made him do terrible things. “But you beat it—” he breathed. “You came back. How?”

But her eyes were closed again and she did not respond.

Eugene swallowed harshly, scrubbing at his eyes. He was not going to cry. He needed to recover, needed to get back on his feet and do his duty, and mourning what he had lost would not help. “I’m not as strong as you, Cass. It’s still there. Still waiting for a chance to get out.”

Eugene had washed his face in a basin of cold water and done his best to bring some kind of order to his hair before Varian came in for his shift. It was pretty clear he hadn’t really fooled the kid, but Varian was too damned smart and perceptive for his own good. But hopefully it was good enough to pass muster. He waved at the two guards on the door as he passed, a little surprised when Conli and his partner materialized behind him, falling into place like clockwork. 

“Seriously, guys, just going down to the kitchens. You don’t need to follow me.” Eugene turned. “I’m not the one needing protection here. Go keep an eye on Rapunzel or something. I’m just getting some dinner before I head back to the infirmary to rest, like I promised.”   
  
Conli looked a little embarrassed. “Sorry, sir, orders.”

Eugene straightened up. “I didn’t give you those orders.”   
  
“Um, no, sir. The acting captain did. His advisor passed them on to us.”

Eugene stopped dead. “What—? You wanna repeat that? Acting captain?”

“Acting Captain Maximus, sir. The king put him in charge after he relieved you of duty.” Conli shrank back a little.

It took a minute to sink in. The King had relieved him of duty— and installed Maximus as the Captain pro tem? He was no longer captain of the guard... and had been replaced by a horse? Not that Maximus wasn’t a brilliant guard, but— He had hooves instead of hands! 

Eugene turned where he stood and headed toward the east tower, the rooms he shared with his wife.

“Sir?” Conli asked nervously. “Weren’t you going to get some dinner?”

Eugene turned and fixed him with a dead-eyed stare that froze the words in his mouth. “I’m not fucking hungry anymore.” he said flatly.

Somehow, he wasn’t sure how, he made it up all the stairs to his own door. Stan and Pete let him in, their faces soft with something that might have been sympathy, but to be honest was too much work for his overloaded brain to unravel. 

Rapunzel was curled up in her little bookcase nook, tiny pots of paint scattered around her and her journal in her lap. The tip of her brush was stained bright crimson, and he didn’t have to ask to know exactly what she was journaling. But one look at him and brush and journal were hastily set aside and she swarmed down the ladder to hold him tight. “Eugene? Eugene, love? What’s wrong?”

Her soft voice and loving arms were his undoing. His knees buckled and he went to the floor, holding onto her with a desperation that made him shake. Rapunzel curled around him like a loving blanket, her warmth the only thing holding him anchored.

It took over an hour for her to get the story out of him, between frequent bouts of shaking that were not quite sobs and gulps for air through a throat too tight to speak easily. He tried, he really did— to keep what he had done, and what he feared he was becoming, locked behind chattering teeth, but some of it escaped against his will, the fear the the king had seen that he was no longer worthy of either his position or his place at Rapunzel’s side.

Rapunzel held him tightly, whispering soothing words she didn’t think he could even hear over the downward spiral of his own thoughts. She was torn between worry for him and seething at those who had hurt him so. 

She coaxed him up onto the bed and held him until exhaustion eased his shaking and he was struggling against sleep. Softly, soothingly, she began to hum, raking her fingers through his sweat-dampened hair and massaging pulse points as she went. He began to lose the fight against sleep’s embrace. There was one song, that regardless of her memories, still reminded her of when it had saved two of the people she loved most in this world. “—heal what has been hurt; change the fate’s design—” she sang in a voice barely above a whisper.

When sleep had finally dragged him down and she was sure nothing short of one of Varian’s infrequent explosions would wake him, she rose and went to the door. Stan and Pete looked rightfully concerned, and she softened her expression. “One of you go grab a stretcher and then both of you take my husband down to the infirmary to be looked after properly.”   
  
“What about you, Princess?” Pete asked. “We’re not supposed to leave you unguarded.”

“Send the first guard you find back to me. I’ll be headed to the throne room to speak to my father.” There was cold fury in her voice that decided them arguing with her was not a good idea in any way, shape, or form. Stan rushed off to find a stretcher. 

When he returned, Rapunzel helped them carefully put Eugene on it, her face an absolute mask. “Straight to the infirmary and get him into a cot. He needs rest.”

“Yes, your highness!” 

Rapunzel waited at her door until another set of guards sent by Stan and Pete showed up, her trusty frying pan in one hand and Eugene’s dagger stuck through her belt. If her armed state bothered the guards, they said nothing and fell neatly into place behind her as she headed for the throne room at a pace just short of a trot, bare feet slapping the marble loudly.

She didn’t bother with niceties, thrusting the door to the throne room open and fixing Nigel, the only other person besides her Father and the guards, with a flat stare. “I need to talk to my father, in private. Please find somewhere else to be.”

Nigel paled at her tone and barely managed a bow before leaving.

“Sweetheart, what is it?” Frederic asked, unnerved by her entrance.

She turned to face him. 

Frederic had always described his daughter as sunshine given form, warm and loving, blessing everything with her light. But the eyes that turned to him were so cold they burned, a harsh winter sun that gave no warmth, blinding and frigid. 

“What were you thinking?”

Frederic was reminded of Arianna’s fury, but where she burned hot, Rapunzel was glacial. And there was nothing quite as terrifying as a sun that  _ refused _ to give its warmth.

“Please, dearest, what is it? I cannot tell you unless you tell me what has you so upset with me?”

“Where do I start?” she prowled forward with a predatory grace that reminded him uncomfortably of Cassandra when she was infuriated. “You relieved my husband of duty without a word of explanation, when he has been doing everything in his power to keep everyone he loves safe. As if that did not show a lack of faith in his abilities, you replaced him as Captain with  _ a horse. _ A horse, that, while I would trust with my life, has no voice to command, no hands to help with.”   
  
“Wait, what?” Frederic shook his head. Putting aside the thought that he had promoted a horse to Captain of the Guard, he frantically tried to ease Rapunzel’s righteous fury. “Dearest, I was told he collapsed and a doctor had recommended he rest. I thought it best to take him off of duty to allow him to recover a bit. We need him at his best in circumstances such as these. Please, I was only trying to help him.”   
  
The barest edge of the ice in her eyes melted, but she was by no means thawing. “Without even telling him why? Letting him believe you do not trust his devotion to duty, but relieving him of it without a word? Do you have any idea what kind of blow to his pride it is that you elevated his horse to the position?” She paced back and forth in front of him.

“I was told that First Lieutenant Max was his Second. I had no idea that he was a horse!”

“Max, dad,” Rapunzel folded her arms and stared down her nose at him. “Short for Maximus— you know, the horse you  _ gave _ that rank to after he rescued Eugene from the gallows so he could rescue me from Mot— the tower?”

A slow horror crawled up Frederic’s spine. “Oh, dear—”

“Dad, I love you, but right now, I don’t like you very much at all. You hurt Eugene as surely as if you took a knife to him yourself.”

“Dearheart, it was not meant as a disciplinary measure. It’s meant to be temporary. A respite from the overwhelming amount of duties he is juggling, those very same duties that stressed him to the point of collapse. I only wanted him to have a moment to breathe before shouldering the burden again.” He rolled his shoulders. “I got a report from the physician who treated him after I heard about the collapse. He is not well.”

Rapunzel’s fierce expression softened a little more. “No, he isn’t. But you taking his duties out from under him like that did more harm than good. I had to have him taken down to the infirmary again because of this.”

Frederic paled. “You did?”

Rapunzel nodded solemnly. “He’s hurt, dad, inside, where it’s hardest to reach or heal. It— he—” she had to pause and he could see how carefully she was choosing her words. “He broke down on me, not just because you took away his duty— one you’ve seen how seriously he takes, even if he takes nothing else that seriously— but because he had already pushed himself too hard and too far to protect what he loves. Me, Cass, you and Mom, his own Dad— this Kingdom. And then without a word of explanation, you ripped it away from him like he wasn’t  _ doing it right.” _

Rapunzel drew herself up. “But you are right. He’s not well right now. Until he is— and you give him back his rightful job and duties— I’ll be in the infirmary with him and Cass. Give my apologies to Mom for all the meals and other obligations I’m going to miss, but I have people who need me, and they outweigh those obligations.” She sketched a bow, something she had not done to him since— ever. Like they were strangers, not family. “Your Majesty.”

Frederic could only sit there, mouth agape as Rapunzel turned on her heel and strode out, her back one long line of outraged dignity.

When the door had shut behind her, he lowered his head into his hands. “Oh, Arianna, my dearest, I fear I have done it again.” he said to the silent throne room.

~

When Cass woke next, there was a cot a few feet from hers, and a haggard looking Eugene asleep in it. Between the two cots, Rapunzel sat with a journal she was furiously writing in. Her head snapped up at the sound of Cass moving, her eyes darting first to Eugene and then to her. “Cass!” Though quiet, her voice was bright with relief. “How are you feeling?”

“In too much pain to be dead, so alive. What happened? He looks like a stampede ran over him.” Cass turned her head to study Eugene. There were bags under his eyes she could have used for saddlebags and his cheeks were too hollow. His hair was mussed and lay limply across his forehead.

“My dad happened,” Rapunzel’s voice had a bite to it Cass had seldom heard from her. “He heard Eugene collapsed and decided to relieve him of duty— only without bothering to tell him— and replacing him with—”   
  
“Tell me he didn’t put my dad back in charge?” Cass said, carefully hiking herself up.

Rapunzel set her journal aside and helped her, arranging extra pillows behind her back so she was half-way sitting. “Your dad would have been the better option. I don’t think Eugene would have been so hurt if he had taken it—”

“Who then?”

“In his infinite wisdom, he promoted Eugene’s Second.”

Cass darked a disbelieving laugh. “His second is Max.”   
  
“On the money.”

“He gave your husband’s position to the horse?” Cass glanced again at Eugene. He obviously hadn’t taken it well. She said as much.   
  
Rapunzel made a rude noise. “Not really.” She reached over to smooth hair back from Eugene’s face. “He—” She paused and chewed on her lip. “He wouldn’t tell me everything but, he was terrified that Dad had decided that he wasn’t good enough— for the position— or me.”

“That’s ridiculous. He’d die for you— again.” Cass hiked herself a little higher, ignoring the stab of pain it sent through her midsection.

Rapunzel huffed a laugh that sounded bitterly like a sob. “You know that. I know that. Eugene certainly knows that, but right now—” She clenched her hands. “You didn’t hear him, Cass. He— I don’t think I’ve ever heard him sound that scared, Like my dad was going to take away everything he thought made life worth living.” She shivered, hunching a little closer to Eugene. “I haven’t been that scared for him, well— since—” Her hands darted down to touch Eugene’s side. There was a scar there, Cass knew. She’d seen it a couple of times. A remainder of the stab wound that had killed him in the tower years ago. She flexed her own scarred hand. The combined Sundrop and Moonstone had healed the damage, but the scars lingered— a reminder etched in skin, like his.

She offered the scarred hand to Rapunzel, who caught it in a painfully tight grip. "We'll look out for him, Raps."

Rapunzel giggled a little. Not her usual, lighthearted joy, but Cass would take it over anger and tears. "You and me against the world?"

Cass pulled a half-smile. "Ah, c'mon, he's got more people on his side than just the two of us, no matter how awesome we are alone. My dad won't be happy either. Your mom... His—  _ o-our _ father. Hell, Max is probably ready to leave a few hoofprints on your dad's hide for hurting him."

The giggle this time was more real. Rapunzel leaned over to rest her forehead on Cass's shoulder. "Yeah. Yeah— you're right, Cass."

"Of course I am. Now, think you can convince him to believe in us? If anyone can get through that thick head—"

"Cass!"

"It's you, and you know it."

Rapunzel snorted, but squeezed her hand. “Almost as stubborn as you.”

“I resemble that remark.” Cass poked her with her free hand. 

“Maybe you two inherited that from King Edmund.”

“Okay, I’m just coming to terms with being related to your husband, let’s not bring the fruitcake into this.”

This time the giggle was startled and very real. “Cass!”

Cass poked her nose this time. “Hey, Raps?”

“Hmm?”

“Not that I don’t trust you to whack the everloving daylights out of anyone who tries to get in here, but do you think I could have my throwing knives back?”

“Cass, you know you aren’t supposed to exert yourself.” Rapunzel scolded.

“I don’t intend to. I just want to be a last line of defense. Let’s face it, after getting through the door guards and whoever is watching us, no one is going to expect one of the invalids to be armed. It’ll be a last chance for Eugene and I, if things go wrong.”

Rapunzel looked thoughtful, chewing absently on her bottom lip. After a long moment, she sighed and nodded. “Just those, though. Anything else will be too much of a strain on your injuries. Varian is supposed to break me for lunch in about an hour, I’ll get them then.”

“Thanks. You know me, I feel better with a weapon close by.”

Rapunzel relaxed and grinned. “I know. And don’t think that I didn’t notice that you intended to protect Eugene too.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

"Hey, Cass— I know this whole thing’s been a terrible pain for you, but is it okay if I'm really happy we’re sisters now, at least legally?" Rapunzel’s tone was hopeful.

Cass gave her one of her rare grins. "Raps, that's been the  _ only _ good thing about all of this."

Rapunzel eeped softly, her smile blinding, and carefully hugged Cass as tightly as she dared.

~

It was late in the evening that Rapunzel finally dozed off in the chair. 

Eugene had woken up once, and after coaxing some food into him and telling him about her confrontation with her father, which had gotten something that was almost a smile out of him, she had sat on the edge of his bed and sung quietly until he had fallen back asleep. Cass had noticed how tired she looked, so she pretended to be lulled by Rapunzel’s soft voice.

Cass watched her from under half-lidded eyes until she was certain she was well and truly out. It wasn’t hard for her to move without waking her, she had plenty of practice at it, in moving silently about the princess’s room before she woke when she had been Rapunzel’s Lady-in-Waiting. It was harder with the wound in her gut, but she managed. 

She slid carefully off the cot, holding onto the wall as every muscle protested getting up. Carefully, she edged her way along the wall to the water closet. Distracting Rapunzel had actually worked, and without the damned painkiller in her system, her head felt clearer and she was able to think; to plan.

After taking care of the essentials, she wrapped herself in a sheet and carefully counted blocks in the wall until she found the right one. She pushed on it and it swung free, revealing the lever behind it, one that opened a trapdoor in the floor that led to one of the tunnels under the castle. It was one she had found as an adventurous child, dreaming of protecting the castle like her dad. Grunting softly, she lowered herself down and pulled the hatch shut behind her.

She couldn’t let herself be incapacitated if she intended to protect her princess—  _ and _ her brother. After a quick stop in her room to pull on real clothes (she left her chain where it was, it was too heavy for her injuries to tolerate) she retreated back to the tunnels, to emerge in a corner of the gardens. The moonlight and the lights from the palace gave her enough light to see and she began to carefully stretch, limbering muscles stiff from inactivity. 

She couldn’t do too much, but surely a few exercises couldn’t hurt. She had to be able to do her duty. She began to move into a posture she had learned in her brief stay in Koto on her travels. Their style was enough like dancing that she thought it might not overstress her healing wounds. As her muscles warmed and loosened, she found a pattern and began to practice in earnest.

~

Eugene came awake all at once, with a panicked scream ringing in his ears, grabbing for a sword he wasn’t wearing. He was on his feet before his eyes had even fully opened and he found his wife staring at an empty cot, her frying pan clenched in one hand, and gasping as she sucked in another breath for a second shriek.

The guards outside piled through the door, weapons out and ready.

**_“Cass!?”_ ** Rapunzel screamed. Her eyes were wide and panicked.

Eugene caught her arms. “Sweetheart, what happened? Where’s Cass?”

Her breath hitched. “I— I don’t know. I thought I closed my eyes for a minute, but when I opened them, she was gone without a trace. I must have fallen asleep but—?”

Eugene turned his attention to the guard. “You two didn’t see anything?”

“No sir! It’s been all quiet out here since the dinner trays were taken away.” One reported, hands clenched tight on his halberd. His partner nodded.

“Spread out,” Eugene snapped. “Alert everyone. Cassandra is missing and we need to know who took her and where she is!”

They didn’t argue about rank, snapping off salutes and rushing to obey. Eugene took his sword from the table and stuffed his feet in his boots. “I’m joining the search. Stay here and stay safe, sweetheart.”

“Eugene—!” she protested, tears in her eyes.

“No buts,” He brushed a quick kiss across her lips. “When we find her, she’s coming right back here and I want you to be here. We don’t know how bad she might be hurt so I need you to rouse a doctor and have supplies ready just in case. I’m trusting you, Sunshine, to have things ready to move the instant we find her and whoever took her. And we will find her!”

Still shaking, she clenched her hands tighter around the handle of her frying pan and gave him a grim nod. “Bring her back.”

“That’s the plan.” Eugene left her standing there and went to join the hunt. He could hear raised voices as guards searched the castle. He wasn’t sticking around. If someone grabbed her, they were likely trying to get as far and as fast as they could. He’d cut through the gardens, grab a horse from the stables and see if he could track them.

He had just made it outside into the cool night air when he heard beating wings and the frantic cries of an owl.  _ “Owl?!” _

The bird of prey arrowed down out of the darkness and looped around his head, hooting loudly. Owl’s yellow eyes were pinned and he screeched before wheeling back the way he had come. Eugene took off after the small brown figure. “Lead me to Cass!”

Owl didn’t head for the road out of the castle grounds, instead leading him deeper and deeper into the gardens, calling to make sure he was following. Gritting his teeth, Eugene ran as hard as he could, straining to keep his eyes on his feathered guide.

He stumbled blindly through a hedge and onto an area of trampled grass. In the center of the clearing, a dark figure lay curled in a fetal ball on the grass. The moonlight harshly picked out the pale face, half-hidden behind dark curls, and bright crimson spotting the grass under the curled figure. **_“CASS!?”_ **

Eugene skidded to a stop beside her, dropping to his knees to pry her hands away from her stomach and the blood staining her shirt. She moaned softly as he jostled her and he managed a breath, carefully working an arm behind her bent knees and lifting her against his chest. She felt too light and he lurched back to his feet, Cass held tight in his arms. “Owl!” he called into the darkness, hearing a soft hoot in response. “Fly ahead, warn Rapunzel we’re coming!”

Owl was gone before he even finished the sentence, darting across the face of the moon towards the castle. Eugene knew the bird could find his way in easily enough through any number of ways too small for a man to fit. He pushed himself into a stumbling run, Cass’s weight, slight though it seemed, throwing his balance all to hell. His boots hit pavement and he was on one of the pathways, a nearly clear shot straight back to the castle.

Two of the guards spotted him and rushed to help but he refused to relinquish Cass’s limp form, grateful when they only paced him, offering a hand when he staggered. Bolstered by their aid, he saw the light of the open infirmary door, Rapunzel silhouetted in it. His legs found a little more strength and he hurried toward her. She already had doctors rushing forward to relieve him of Cass, and though he was loath to let her go, he let them ease her onto a stretcher and carry her into the brightly lit room.

Panting, he leaned on Rapunzel’s comforting strength for just a moment before following. 

“Where was she?” Rapunzel wedged a shoulder under his arm and helped him toward the gathered doctors.    
  
“Gardens,” He replied. “Owl led me to her, lying in the grass. I didn’t see anybody else, but I wasn’t waiting to look for them.”

Rapunzel turned her head a little to address the nearest guard. “Search the grounds. If there’s anyone here I want them caught!”

“At once, your Highness!”

The doctors had cut away Cass’s bloodied tunic by the time they reached the table and Eugene swallowed at the sight of her wound, stitches torn through the flesh, spreading fresh crimson trails across her belly. Even some of the smaller cuts from the bloodletting were re-opened, oozing bright scarlet.

While assistants mopped the blood away, one of the doctors set to work, carefully cutting the stitches and pulling them free of the rent flesh. Another surgeon threaded a thin needle with fine thread, following in the wake of the first and carefully drawing torn flesh back together again, one tiny, careful stitch at a time. It seemed to take forever and the result was a jagged starburst of black stitches radiating out from the main wound, which itself had been pulled back together by thicker stitches carefully and painstakingly placed between where the others had torn away. Some few of the original stitches hadn’t torn or popped and they were left alone. 

Eugene sagged down to sit on the edge of a cot, his legs feeling like jelly. While the assistants covered the wounds with poultices and bandaged them into place, Rapunzel went to speak with one of the returning guards, leaving Eugene feeling bereft without her warmth at his side. But she returned almost as swiftly as she had gone. “There has been no sign of intruders,” she spoke softly in his ear, hand smoothing down his arm to intertwine with his own. She lifted her other hand and it was shaking. A slim knife rested in her palm. 

Eugene knew that blade. He could remember Cassandra playing with it before she agreed to meet with Edmund, quietly pleased that Rapunzel had commissioned Xavier to make a pair of them for her. “Where—?”

“In the garden where you found her.” Rapunzel closed her hand around the knife and Eugene instinctively grabbed for it before she could cut herself on the honed blade. “S-she asked me to get them for her, said that she wanted to have a weapon to protect both of you if somehow someone got past the guard and me or Varian or Cap...”

“She—” Eugene stalled on the words.

“There was a tree where there were marks in the bark, like it was being used as a target.” Rapunzel seemed fixated on the blade. “I think she tried to go train. I know she gets frustrated with inactivity, she did the time she hurt her foot, but  _ why _ would she—?” Rapunzel’s shoulders were shaking, and angry tears welled in her eyes. “She—”

“You think she snuck out.”

Rapunzel growled low in her throat. “I don’t know whether I want to hit her or hug her.”

“Wait til she heals, Sunshine.” Eugene took her hand. “But yelling— that I can get behind because I plan on doing some of that.”

Rapunzel hiccupped a little and blew a lock of hair out of her eyes. “I was so scared when I woke up and saw her empty bed. I didn’t mean to fall asleep—”

“Sweetheart, you’ve been here since— what— last night? You should have asked m— Max for a relief hours ago. You’re allowed to rest too.”

She huffed. “I told Dad that I wasn’t leaving the infirmary or you until you were feeling better and he reinstated you to duty. I want him to believe me.”

Eugene managed a sad chuckle. “Sweetheart, there are a dozen cots in this room. You could always have gotten Cap to relieve you and taken a nap.”

“Oh—”

“Let me guess, you didn’t think of that?”

“Oops.” 

Eugene booped the tip of her nose. “Sunshine, never change.”

She giggled a little and caught his hand out of the air, dropping a kiss on his fingertips.

The activity as the doctors shifted Cass back onto her cot distracted them and they both moved closer to the cot, Rapunzel sitting on the edge of it and Eugene standing beside her with a hand on her shoulder. His whole body ached from the mad run and he knew he’d need to collapse soon, but he needed to— he wasn’t sure, but he was leaning toward yelling at Cass for the worry she had caused both of them.   
  
Her face was pale and there were twigs tangled in her black hair. Rapunzel busied herself picking them out. “I know she— well, she’s like me— she doesn’t like to be confined.”

Eugene snorted. “Well, she just managed to confine herself more, because she’s going to be here even longer with this little stunt.”   
  
Rapunzel gave him a half-smile, wrinkling her freckled nose at him. “It’s worse than that. She’s trapped in a hurt body and well— I know that makes me cranky too.”

“Okay, yeah, you didn’t do so hot that first time you ever got sick. You threw paint at me.” His tone was aggrieved but she could tell he was teasing. 

She stuck her tongue out at him. “You kept calling me your ‘Sickly Sunshine’ and I got really tired of it after the first dozen times.”

“Aw, but—”

A faint moan from the woman on the bed cut him off. They both turned their attention to Cass as she turned her head from side to side, her brows creased over fluttering eyes as she fought her way back to consciousness. 

“Back among the living, Cas _san_ dra?” Eugene asked, giving her name that odd pronunciation that he knew she hated. It worked and bleary eyes snapped open, spitting fire at him.

“Cass!” Rapunzel exclaimed.

“Ow.”

“You’re gonna be ‘ow’ when I get done with you! What were you thinking? I was so worried!” Rapunzel seethed, leaning over Cass to stare into her eyes.

Cass blinked for a long moment. “What—?”

“Don’t you what me! You snuck out and managed to pull most of your stitches! What were you thinking, Cass? You scared me half to death!”

Cass scowled at her stubbornly. “I need to be able to protect—”

Eugene leaned over his wife’s shoulder and poked a finger in her face.  _ “Ah-ah-ah! _ Stopping you right there. You can’t protect anybody if you kill yourself.”

“You should talk!’” she bit back at him.

“And you came way too damn close today,” he continued as if she hadn’t even spoken. “If Owl hadn’t found me and brought me to where you were lying on the grass,  _ bleeding out through the stitches you  _ **_tore open—!”_ **

Rapunzel laid a hand on his arm as his voice rose to a pitch just short of a roar. “Breathe, Eugene.”

He sucked in a breath but leaned down to stare into Cass’s pain-clouded eyes. “You could have died, you idiot! Remember telling me in the throne room you couldn’t let your brother die? I told you that you couldn’t go dying on me either, you absolute block-headed moron!”

“Watch the names, Fitzherjerk!” Cass snapped back.

“They’re not names, they’re statements of reality, Dragon Lady!” Eugene seethed. “What happened to— y’know—  _ not _ losing you again!?”

Cass had opened her mouth to retort angrily, but the look on his face stopped her. He was frightened. Really,  _ really _ frightened.

She glanced at Rapunzel and saw the tears on her cheeks.

All the fight went out of her and she slumped. “Sorry.”

Still in high dudgeon, Eugene started to snap back until Rapunzel took his hand. “Eugene, stop. She really is sorry. Calm down.”

He fumed silently for a moment before he could calm himself down. “Cass—” he turned and paced a few steps back and forth, the movement helping to clear the anger still sizzling in his veins. “Cass, I know— Okay— I know how it is, needing to protect people. I got really good teachers in your dad and Rapunzel in that drive to defend the people you care about. I— I lost myself a little when you got hurt— okay, maybe a lot— and, if nothing else it proved to me how important you are— and how much I care.” 

He came back to the cot and dropped into a crouch so they were at eye level. “A long time ago, I said you were like a sister to me. And then I found out you really are my sister. And that’s something I can’t let go of easily. When you grow up without family, finding you have some is a big deal. And once you have it— you’re inclined to hold onto it with both hands. That being said, I found you and I’ll be _damned_ if I let you go. And that includes going and trying to kill yourself to protect us.”

“You—” Cass’s voice wavered. “Are a sap.” She was smiling as she said it.

“Doesn’t make it not true, Cass.”

Rapunzel sighed and rested one hand on Eugene’s hair and the other on Cass’s hand. “Let’s just put this behind us. I think, though, we all need some sleep, including me.” She pushed herself to her feet. “I’ll go see if—”

“Not my dad.” Cass objected. “I don’t think I can take someone else yelling at me right now.”

“I’ll get Varian.” Rapunzel promised. “But your dad is going to find out. I’m surprised he hasn’t already.”

“Oh, he  _ has.” _

The voice made them all jump, Cass yipping a little in pain. Cap was leaning against the door, his arms folded across his chest and a foreboding look on his mustached face.

“How long have you been there?” Eugene asked, his voice cracking a little.

“Long enough. And I’m going to exercise my right as Advisor to advise you all to get some damned sleep. Cassandra, you are taking your medicine and not another peep out of you till morning. We will talk about this escapade then.”

Cass ducked her head, a hectic flush climbing up her cheeks. “Yes, sir.”

Rapunzel rose and fetched a cup of the medicine the doctor’s had already set out, bringing it and a glass of water to Cass. As ordered, she took it without complaint, sinking back into her pillows almost as soon and she had passed the glass back. Her head drooped as Rapunzel touched her cheek gently.

Eugene pulled another cot next to the one he had been using and tugged Rapunzel over to it. She didn’t put up a fight, collapsing on it with a sigh. Eugene tucked a sheet over her and then curled up against her back, arm tucked around her waist to hold her close.

Cass sighed. “ ‘M sorry, dad.”

“I said in the morning. Sleep.” Cap’s voice was stern but the hand that brushed her cheek was gentle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eugene is not having a good time. Poor guy. What we do to him in fanfiction...
> 
> Next Chapter: On the hunt. More yelling and a little help where needed. Things get thrown. Arianna is still best mom.


	14. Help for the Taking

The sun was barely edging the horizon, but the winds were favorable and Hector had been champing at the bit to get his King-sanctioned hunt started. He chivied Sturm and Drang aboard the balloon in spite of their sleepy protests. They would be happier when they were on the hunt, too. He offered the balloonist a bloodthirsty smile.

"Wait!" 

Hector glanced back and saw Quirin's boy running towards the balloon as fast as his lanky legs could carry him.

The boy stopped and caught his breath, gloved hands on his knees, then stood up straight. "Look, I don't like you any more than Eugene does. But I like the people who hurt Cass even less." He shoved a small, twisted bottle at Hector.

"Interrogation can get you answers, but people will lie just to make the pain stop. Truth serum will let you know the answers are true." His blue eyes were steady and unflinching as he spoke.

Hector raised an eyebrow in consideration. Not just at the useful tool he was being offered, or the fact that the boy hadn't balked at the thought of Hector torturing people, but that the Princeling had this at his disposal and yet still had gone the tack he had with the prisoner.

"Good to know," he said, tucking the bottle into a pocket of his vest and swinging himself into the basket of the balloon. He leaned back down to offer Quirin’s son a sharp-toothed smile. “I’ve already promised my king to bring back the skull of the high priest as a present for his daughter. Do you want a souvenir too, boy?” He laughed.

To his surprise, the boy actually looked thoughtful for a moment. “Nothing quite that gruesome, thanks.” He tapped a thumb against his bottom lip thoughtfully. “I tell you what,  _ if  _ you can get it—” 

Hector scoffed aloud. 

“I want the spell. The original document of the spell that links the Mark to the bloodline.”

Hector leaned bonelessly over the edge of the basket, one arm dangling loosely. “My brother tells me you are an Alchemist, not a magician, boy.”

“My name is Varian, not boy. And I’ve gained an understanding of magic in the past few years. I’ve also learned that what magic can do, so too can science. I want to take that spell apart and find out how it works.” Varian’s gaze was hard. “That mark has caused a lot of trouble for my friends and I’ll be more than happy to destroy the spell if that gains them back one ounce of the peace of mind they had before this whole damned thing started. You can bet on that, King's dog.”

“King’s dog. Oh, I like that!” Hector laughed delightedly. He leaned down a little further. “Well, this dog is on the hunt, and I’ll bring you back your souvenir. Who knows? Maybe you can do something—” he twiddled his fingers in the air.  _ “—impressive  _ with it.”

“Just you wait.” Varian turned on his heel and left without another word.

Laughing, Hector turned to the balloonist. “Well, what are you waiting for? I have my orders and gifts to bring back. Let’s fly!”

He cackled with delight as the last guyline was untied and the balloon soared into the air. Finally, a chance to do what he did best. He hadn’t had this much fun in ages.

~

Rapunzel woke slowly, and much later in the day than she was used to, if the light through her eyelids was any indication. She could feel Eugene spooned tightly against her back, his soft snores close by her ear. The hip she was laying on was a little stiff and it took her a moment to remember why. The infirmary— Cass— 

She opened her eyes, sitting up and very carefully sliding free of Eugene’s grip. Varian was sitting in the chair she had last seen Cap occupying, rolling some of his glass alchemy balls idly between the fingers of one hand as he read a book propped on his upraised knee. He glanced up at her movement and swiftly slid the balls back into his belt pouch, setting his book aside. "Hey!"

"Varian." She scrubbed at her gummy eyes. "What time is it?"

"A bit shy of noon. Cap sent a guard to get me about ten, I guess. Said not to wake you." He glanced over at Cass's cot. There were dried tear tracks on her cheeks and she looked so pale that it hurt to see. "He told me what happened. Apparently, I slept through it all."

With a caress of Eugene's drawn cheek, Rapunzel pushed herself to her feet. "You're allowed to sleep, Varian. We all are, though I think we'd forgotten that. I took what should have been your watch because I was mad at my dad and wound up dozing off— giving Cass the opportunity to do something dumb."

She ruffled his hair on her way to the water closet. "Give me a couple of minutes and I'll get someone to bring us something for... I suppose it's brunch now. Have you eaten?"

"Have I eaten?" He laughed sheepishly. "Ha— Uh, no."

Rapunzel smiled. "I know you, Varian."

"Umm, oops?"

Her laugh was a little tired, but full of her genuine cheer. "Like I said, I'll have food brought. Did the doctors say whether Cass could have real food, instead of broth?"

"They said so when I came on shift. They woke her to clean the wound and offered her food—" Varian pointed at a small tray beside the cot. Rapunzel lifted the cover and wrinkled her nose. Oatmeal, a soft boiled egg and dry toast. "She didn't want any of it. So they gave her a dose of medicine and let her go back to sleep."

Rapunzel let the lid fall with a fond huff. "That's because the only thing she doesn't hate on there is toast, and she's not going to want it without butter or something else on it." She rolled her eyes. "I'll get something that will tempt her to eat."

True to her word, shortly after she had emerged from the water closet and washed her face and hands at the basin, she sent a maid off to the kitchens. Before long a heavily laden cart was brought to the door. Rapunzel took it, and after giving both of the guards at the door a pastry, brought it over to the corner where her friends were. “Brunch is served.”

Varian chuckled, but went to go wash his own hands while Rapunzel woke Eugene gently with a kiss. “Morning, love.”

“Morning.” He let out a jaw cracking yawn and stretched before sitting up and peering at the light through one of the small windows. “Or is it?”

“Not quite noon, so technically, yes.” Varian put in from where he stood at the basin.

“Go clean up a little while I wake Cass. We’ll all have something to eat.”

“She’ll like that,” Eugene commented as he rose into another stretch. “She hates how bad the medicines they give her knock her for a loop without anything in her stomach as a buffer.”

Rapunzel kissed his cheek and sat on the edge of Cass’s cot. “Good morning, Cass. You want to wake up and eat something fit for a princess?”

Cass stirred and opened bleary, red-rimmed eyes. She blinked heavily, her gaze still clouded with the painkillers. "Y'know, Raps," Cass's voice was quiet and slightly slurred. "I dunno how y'think I'm any kinda princess. You've seen how fuckin' good with people I am." Her laugh was wet and sounded almost more like a sob.

Rapunzel leaned close to her friend. She ran gentle fingers over the bandages on her torso. "What do you mean, Cass? And are you hurting again?"

Cass ignored the question with another part-laugh, part-sob. "I mean I'm no sorta royalty. I can't rule people. I can't even rule myself. Lookit what happened with Zhan fuckin' Tiri." She snorted wetly. "I'm a guardsman's daughter. Or I was. Guess I'm not even that anymore—”

“Hey—” Rapunzel caught her face and leaned in until their foreheads touched. “You listen to me. First off, you will always,  _ always _ be your dad’s daughter. Trust me on that. I saw him without you. Secondly, I lived my life up until the day Eugene rescued me living in a tower, and you think that made me ready to be a princess? If it hadn’t been for you coaching me through things, I probably would have run off long before my coronation, for the way I kept messing things up. So you didn’t grow up a princess. Big deal. You can learn. And you know as well as I do that Zhan Tiri played to all those feelings of not being enough. We talked about that, remember?”

Cass’s breath hitched, but when she blinked again, her eyes were clearer. “Y-yeah. I remember.”

“Good. Now how about some real food?” Rapunzel leaned back and gestured to the cart. Cass lifted her head to look, but dropped it back to her pillows when she realized that Eugene and Varian were in the room too. And there was no way they could have missed her words.

Her cheeks went a hectic red and she dropped one arm over her eyes. “None of you heard any of that, got it?”

“Heard what, Sister Slither?”

“I still have my knives, Fitzherbert—”

“Cass—”

“What? That one is worse than Dragon Lady!”

“Can we dispense with the name calling and just eat?” Varian asked plaintively.

“I’ll call him some names—” Cass grumbled, but subsided at a look from Rapunzel. She hissed in pain as Rapunzel and Varian very carefully propped her up against a pile of pillows, but didn’t complain, even when Rapunzel made her a plate of small bite-sized portions of her favorite fruits and cheeses. She wrinkled her nose at Rapunzel, but accepted it anyway. She knew she needed the food. Her stomach had long since been convinced that her throat had been cut with how little had gone into it outside of the doctor’s nasty medicines and bitter teas.

She tried hard to ignore how badly her hands were shaking until she nearly stabbed herself with a fork. After that she gave up any pretense to manners and ate with her fingers. Some  _ Princess— _

Some of her thoughts must have made themselves known on her face because Rapunzel set aside her own fork and copied Cass’s less-than-mannerly dining, popping an entire puff pastry in her mouth. 

Her antics earned laughter from Varian and an amused snort from Eugene. Cass tried to ignore her until a bimberry hit her in the nose. “Hey!”   
  
“Less brooding, more eating,” Rapunzel scolded, rising from where she had been sitting next to Eugene and plopping down on the edge of Cassandra's cot. “You need your strength back.” She held an apple slice to Cass’s lips until she finally accepted it.

“So everyone can yell at me again?” Cass asked sourly around the crisp apple.

“No, so you can actually heal and not do something that causes us to panic and yell at you again.” Eugene put in. “You took years off my life with that stunt!”

“Eugene—” Rapunzel soothed. “She knows she scared us all, doesn’t she?” The last was directed at Cass with a level stare. 

Abashed, and hating how it made her feel, Cass ducked her head. “I said I was sorry.”

“Apologize through actions, Cass. No more stunts!” Eugene growled before turning his attention back to his plate and shoving a bite of sausage around on it with no intention of eating it.

Cass hunched her shoulders, feeling almost as vulnerable as she had after the incident with Hector. “I— I am sorry. I’m not used to being the weak one, and it bothered me that I couldn’t do more— to protect Raps, to protect you—” She pushed her barely eaten plate away, her appetite gone in the wake of her shame.

“Cass, don't do this—” Rapunzel chided. She put the plate back. "Eat. I  _ will _ feed you if I have to. Same goes for you, mister!" She pointed at Eugene.

He snorted at her.

Sighing, Rapunzel rose to her feet. "I know she scared you, but she apologized. And she means it when she says she won't do it again, right, Cass?" A taste like ashes in her mouth, Cass nodded.

Rapunzel settled next to Eugene and picked up the uneaten bite of sausage, holding it up to his lips. "Let it go, love. Holding a grudge over it is not going to do any good."

“I reserve the right to be cranky at her.”

“I reserve the right to tell you to  _ stuff it!” _ Unexpectedly, Varian exploded, rising to his feet with his fists clenched. “She’s  _ sorry! _ You were  _ scared! _ We  _ got that, _ thanks! You’re mad, she’s upset and no one is eating, so you both calm down and eat your food before _ I _ decide to feed you!” He stood there for a moment, panting at his outburst and then blinked and paled. “Um— I should probably go now.” Shoulders hunched and head down, he scurried for the door.

Rapunzel caught him before he got more than a few feet. “No, Varian. You had every right to get upset.”

Eugene heaved a sigh. “She’s right, Varian. I’m probably not thinking too clearly right now, and being that scared only made me angrier. Sorry, kid.” He turned to look at Cass, pale and shrunken against her pillows. Her plate sat ignored in her lap and she had turned her head away, arms folded almost defensively across her bandaged abdomen. “Sorry, Cass. I told you last night— you’re family, and the thought of losing you scares me. And finding you like that— well, all I could see was you going down with that arrow in your gut again.”

Her shoulders hunched. “You don’t have to apologize. I made a mistake. I— it scares me, not being strong enough.” She flexed her scarred hand absently. “We’ve seen what happens when I think I’m not enough. Dumb things are the least of my bad decisions.”

“Yeah, I kinda do. I wanted to stay angry at you because it kept me from thinking about how close we came to losing you again. But you don’t deserve my anger when you already apologized. Look, can we just— forget last night? I forgive you— now will you return the favor and forgive me so my wife stops glaring at both of us and threatening to force-feed us?”

“Eugene!”

“Yeah. Let’s just— forget last night.” Cass finally looked up, offering the barest hint of an apologetic smile. “Sorry for ruining breakfast, Varian.”

He sighed, tension seeping out of his shoulders. “It’s brunch— and it’s not ruined, just a little off-course. Can we eat now, though?”

Rapunzel towed him back to his chair and reseated herself next to Eugene on the edge of the cot. “Please.”

She turned expectantly to Eugene and he sighed heavily and popped a piece of cheese in his mouth. “I’m eating, I’m eating.”

“Better.” She kissed his cheek and turned her attention back to Cass who was trying to pick up a bite of melon with fingers that were shaking even worse than before. It escaped her three times before she gave up.

Rapunzel rose and poured a small glass of apple juice. Ignoring Cass’s protest, she put it in her hands and helped steady them until she had drunk about half the glass. “Finish the juice first,” she said gently. “You need to get something in you to help with the shakes. You haven’t had a whole lot for the past couple of days.”

“This is mortifying,” Cass mumbled past the lip of the glass.

“This is recovering from an horrible injury,” Rapunzel tutted. She helped Cass finish the glass. True to her words, by the time Cass had drunk the whole glass, the tremors had quieted and she was able to feed herself more easily, though she still wasn’t risking a fork. Rapunzel didn’t bother either, taking great delight in tossing berries into the air to catch them in her mouth— or at least attempt to. She missed more than she caught, but Pascal, perched on her shoulder, caught the ones that went astray.

It was perhaps a measure of how on edge they were that the door opened and everyone reached for a weapon. Arianna raised one hand, “Easy. I come in peace.”

“Mom!” Rapunzel rose from her seat and darted over to hug Arianna tight. “Sorry about not coming to dinner or breakfast. I—”

“Yes, your father told me. He fears he has done something irreparable to your relationship with him.” Arianna slid her good arm around Rapunzel's waist. “May I join you for brunch?"

“Of course.” Rapunzel led the way back to the group in the corner. “Not irreparable, Mom, but I am still staying here.”

Arianna seated herself carefully on the foot of Cass’s cot. “I expected no less when he related the— conversation— to me, dearheart. For all that I love your father, he is prone to opening his mouth and inserting his foot, right up to the knee.” She picked up a slice of melon and nibbled at it, with just as much lack of decorum as they ate with. Her sharp eyes found Eugene, pretending far too much interest in the roll he was buttering.

“I will apologize for his callous way of going about it, my dear, but I will not apologize for him removing you from duty. He did have your best interest at heart. He heard how unwell you were after your collapse and thought to allow you some time to rest— though what he was thinking with promoting Maximus, I shall never know.”

Eugene looked a little surprised, though he had gotten most of it from Rapunzel the other morning. “Yes, Your Majesty,” He said. Arianna could hear how carefully he was phrasing his reply. “If I may ask when I might return to full duty?”

“When you are not one step away from another collapse, dear boy.” Arianna pointed the rind of her melon slice at him. “This is not a punishment, and I beg you not to see it as such. Do you think—” She waved to indicate everyone in the room. “Any of us want to see you drive yourself into an early grave? As I believe the doctor said you were doing.”

Eugene ducked his head, uncombed hair falling into his eyes. “I— please, there must be something useful I can do, Your Majesty.”

Arianna patted Cass’s leg and rose to her feet, stepping around the cart to crouch in front of Eugene. She raised her uninjured arm to cup the side of his face and make him meet her eyes. “Is recovering not useful enough for you, my dear child? Do you think that we would turn you out for merely needing some time to recoup from this?”

His head sank down. “Maybe,” he mumbled into his shirt.

“My son,” Arianna sighed, rising to her feet to pull him into a hug. “You do not need to prove your worth to be loved and cared for.” She sent a glance Cass’s way, seeing the younger women flush and duck her head, knowing the words were directed at her too. “You never have.”

Eugene sagged into her warm embrace. She could feel the small tremors that went through his frame, and bent to press a loving kiss to his forehead. "I mean that, dearheart. You are as much a part of this family as my daughter and I love you just as dearly. It pains me to no end to see you this distraught.”

“I— I’m sorry,” he choked against her shoulder. “So s-sorry.”

Arianna raised a hand to stop Rapunzel, who was more than halfway to them. As much as he loved her, Rapunzel was not what he needed at the moment. She smoothed a hand down his back. “Come with me, child,” she urged, coaxing him to his feet. “Come.”

He resisted, of course, his wild-eyed gaze darting to the others in the room. “No—”

“They will be fine for a few minutes, I swear.” Arianna said gently, carding her fingers through his bangs. “Trust in them and in the guards you assigned.”

Rapunzel obviously didn’t understand why her mother wanted Eugene to come with her, but she trusted in Arianna’s judgement. “We’ll be okay, Eugene.” She patted the dagger stuck through her belt.

“But—”

“Please, son.” Arianna took his hands in hers.

He sagged. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

“I know you won’t call me mother, Eugene, but I would be honored if you would call me Arianna.” She quirked an impish smile, “Even if your sister will not.”

“Not right to,” grumbled Cass.

“You do indeed have the right to, Princess.” Arianna poked back as she led a drooping Eugene to the door.

“Not a princess!” The protest followed them out the door.

Eugene stirred enough to glance at her, though his eyes were red-rimmed and watery. “She’s really not coming to terms with the fact that she’s royalty, you know.”

“I know. It’s why I will keep reminding her. Whether she likes it or not, she has been confirmed as a member of the royal family— both through her own bloodline and through the ties of your marriage to my daughter.”

It was a weak attempt at a laugh, but Arianna would take it. She led Eugene up a spiraling flight of stairs to a parapet, one that offered a lovely view of the city below them. “You did not grow up among royalty, so tell me, what do you think one of the worst things about being a ruler is?”

“Eh?” Startled out of his troubled thoughts, Eugene stared down at the city below. His eyes darted over all the cheery people populating the streets. “I— I don’t know. Um, mediating disputes over ridiculous things?”

Her eyes distant, Arianna shook her head. “That is boring, love, but far, far from the worst things you must deal with as a ruler. It is something you have done, in your own duties as a Captain of the guard.”

“Majesty?”

She cupped his cheek. “Arianna, dear. And you know it all too well. It is doing whatever it takes to keep your people— those you care about— safe. Sometimes, it is a terrible, terrible burden, choosing to let those you care for go into battles to protect lives. To defend your people from harm, sometimes you must do whatever it takes.”

“But—”

“And what it takes may not always be pretty, dearest.”

His eyes met hers, wide and so scared it broke her heart. He looked like a wild deer on the edge of flight.

“Cap told me what you did. At the time it was the best option you had, to protect those you loved. The same as Cassandra’s best option in the throne room— to save your life— was to take an arrow. Tell me, if you had not broken him, would your wife and sister still be alive?”   
  
He swallowed, the image of Rapunzel sprawled limply on the floor, and that damnable priest standing over Cass, his dagger plunging down toward her heart, filling his head. “I—”

“You know the answer to that.” Her slender fingers pressed against his tunic over his thundering heart. “Perhaps not in here—” Her hand lifted to tap his temple. “But up here. They would not be. It was a horrible decision to have to make, to balance the life of one against the greater good, but you made it, and two people that you love are still alive because of it.” She held his eyes for a long breathless moment.

“I— I—” His throat bobbed with a harsh swallow. “Am I a monster? It’s still inside me, that rage that— made me hurt him.”

“It doesn’t make you a monster, dearheart. It makes you human. A monster would not doubt themself, nor feel remorse for doing what they had to. A monster would not be the son of my heart.”

He crumpled, a harsh racking sob tearing from his throat. Arianna held him fiercely close, going to her knees with him when his legs refused to hold him any longer. She rocked him like he was a small child, murmuring soothingly into his hair as he wept against her shoulder. When the last of the tearing, painful sounds of anguish had faded, she continued to hold him, just letting him breathe against her, warm and loving in a way that was different from anything he had ever known.

He could feel her hand stroking his hair, a balm for the ache in his chest. He could feel the tiniest hesitation in the movement at the top of the stroke, and his mind identified it as the arm that had been cut by the arrow, but she did not stop in her repetitive soothing. It was that that allowed him to regain his shattered control. Scrubbing at cheeks that felt raw from the tears, he sniffed and pulled himself upright. Arianna only let him go when he caught weakly at her hands, letting him capture them in a fierce grip. He pulled them to his mouth and pressed chapped lips against the back of both of them. “T-thank you, Your— Arianna.”

Her smile was sweet and delighted as he said her name. “You do not have to thank me, not for doing what a mother should for her child when they are hurt as deeply as you have been.”

“I— I never knew.” His voice was small and still ravaged from his tears.

“Now you do, dear one. You may always come to me. I would not see you so hurt, not when I can help it.” She reclaimed her hands to cup his cheeks and pulled his face down to press a loving kiss to his forehead. “Now, shall we get back so you may see that no disasters happened to your loved ones while you were gone?”

“It’s Rapunzel, Cass and Varian in the same room. That is a disaster waiting to happen.” His smile was ragged, but felt a million times more real than the few he had managed to muster up before.

“Not a disaster, I think,” Arianna accepted the arm he held out for her. “Just the possibility of one.”

He chuckled softly. “Point, Yo— Arianna.”

“You’ll break that habit soon enough, dearheart. But I thank you for trying.” She smiled up at him as they descended the stairs.

“I don’t know if you’ll ever get Cass to break that habit, to be honest. She grew up in your court— and not as a noble.”

“Oh, I’m sure eventually I’ll get through to her.” Arianna chuckled. “She had more freedom than most— non-royal children. Having a father who was Captain of the Guard managed to get her into more places— including some she shouldn’t have been!” Arianna broke out in chuckles.

“This I need to hear.”

“So you may have blackmail on her?” Arianna side-eyed him.

“No—  _ yeah, _ probably.”

She laughed. “Nothing so harmful, I am afraid. Only that she could not be contained. She— probably found secret passages throughout the castle that even her father did not know of at first. Like one built into the royal chambers— a last-ditch escape, probably dating back to the war with Saporia. It ended in a secret door in the back of my wardrobe. Imagine my surprise when I go to change for bed only to find a small girl trying on my clothes.”

Eugene barked a surprised laugh. “And here I thought she never wore anything but pants when she wasn’t being forced into her uniform dresses!”

“Who said she was trying on my dresses?” She flashed him a gamine grin. “I wasn’t always a queen, you know.”

That got another laugh out of him. “Rapunzel told me about your adventures. So she was trying on your travel clothes?”

“Indeed. She— she was one of the very  _ few _ things that could make me smile that first terrible year. Once she— was not scared that she would be abandoned again, she was a joy.”

“I’d have thought she was a hellion, considering— well, her!”

“Dear, you met her mother— albeit on the end of a knife. At first she was dread to do anything wrong. Afraid she would be met with punishment if she dared even so much as say she did not like something. It took over a year for Cap to find out how much she hated oatmeal. She would not dare to refuse it, for fear.”

“Fear?”

“She remembers so little of her life before the palace, but I do not think it could have been a happy time.”

Eugene thought back on some of the admittedly few things Rapunzel had shared of her life before their meeting. For all her joyous chatter on everything new she discovered, she had been surprisingly close-mouthed on that. “Yeah— yeah, pretty sure you’re right.”

When they reached the infirmary, one of the guards held open the door for them. Rapunzel sprang to her feet as soon as they were inside. Her green eyes were wide and worried. “Eugene?”

There was something of the roguish ‘Flynn Rider’ in the smile he offered her, but he held out both hands to her. “Hey, Sunshine.”

She pattered across the tiles to grasp his extended hands. “Are you—?”

“I’m getting there, sweetheart. I promise.”

She peered up into his reddened eyes before going on her toes to kiss him. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close, feeling her warmth and love. “Love you so much, Rapunzel,” he breathed against her lips.

“Love you too,” she said, pulling back to smile up at him. “Come finish eating. Mom, you too.”

Eugene let her steer him back to his seat on the edge of his cot, catching the worried glance Cass shot his way. He pulled up a smile for her that didn’t feel like it would make him crack into pieces. He reached out and ruffled Varian’s hair, making the younger man squawk indignantly.

Arianna reseated herself on the edge of Cass’s cot and took it upon herself to add more food to Cass’s only partially eaten plate. “Continue eating, young lady. Your body needs food to recover. As does yours.” She shot a look at Eugene.

“I’m eating, I'm eating!” he protested with a chuckle, accepting a roll from his wife, one she had cut open and stuffed with sliced ham and soft cheese.

Arianna smiled at him. “You must recover before you can return to duty, both of you.” She waved her hand at Cass but directed her next words at Eugene. “For now, your duty is to rest and heal— and to watch your sister. You may keep on performing that duty for the nonce.”

“Some Heir’s Knight.” Cass grumbled as she popped a berry in her mouth,

“Cass!”

“Cassandra,” Arianna reprimanded. “You nearly died to protect Eugene and Rapunzel. That is not a failure. You need not prove yourself every hour of every day.”

Cass flushed, ducking her head. “Yes, Your M—”

“Arianna.” Arianna interrupted. “It is not that hard to say.”

Rapunzel giggled softly as Cass’s pale cheeks went pink.

When they had finished eating, though Rapunzel insisted on making both Cass and Eugene a plate for later, staring them both down when they tried to object, Arianna and Varian took their leave. Rapunzel promised that she would send for Cap when they were in need of a break. “I’m still mad at Dad, though,” she reminded Arianna. “So don’t expect to see me outside of my rooms or here.”

Arianna kissed her forehead. “Duly noted.”

Rapunzel closed the door behind them and returned to the corner of the infirmary where Cass and Eugene waited for her. Eugene had taken possession of the only chair so Rapunzel sat in his lap, leaning into his chest to kiss his cheek. “Are you—?” Her voice trailed off.

He offered her a smile that was so full of love it made her heart melt. “I’m not there yet, Sunshine, but I’m better.”

She sighed and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Then I’m better too.”

Cass snorted from her cot. “Yeah, you’re both great, but I’m dying from a sweet overdose over here.” 

“Live with it, Princess,” Eugene retorted, slipping his arms around Rapunzel’s waist.

“Please, stop calling me that. I’m no sort of princess.”

Rapunzel puffed out her cheeks in a sigh and turned her attention to Cass. “You are. You’re his sister, which makes you a crown princess of the Dark Kingdom. You’re my sister by marriage, which also makes you indirectly a member of the Coronan Royal family, ergo  _ still  _ a princess. You should know this— considering this is all stuff you used to help tutor me through when I first came to Corona.”

Cass glared at her. “Raps, you know me! You know who I am, and there is not a bit of it cut out to be a princess, least of all to a kingdom I’ve been to once— and promptly—” 

Eugene was the one to cut her off. “Finish that the way I think you're gonna and I’ll be annoyed at you too, Cass. Dad is pretty obviously not holding a grudge, not if what he said in the library means anything.” He freed one arm from Rapunzel’s waist to gesture at himself. “Look at me, I grew up an orphan and a thief, yet here I am, Prince-Consort of Corona and Prince of the Dark Kingdom. If I can be those, you can bloody well be a princess, Princess Dragon.”

She gave him a flat stare. “Really, Fitzherbert?”

He shrugged and offered her an insouciant grin. “It’s a work in progress, alright? At least Sister Slither has proper alliteration.”

“I may have to be related to you but I have the right to use you as a pincushion still.”

“Excuse me—” They all looked up as one of the assistants came over. “Lady Cassandra, it’s time to check your wound and change your bandages.”

“ _Urghh—”_ Cass groaned. “I hate this!”

“Cass—”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Do you know how embarrassing it is to need someone to help me like this though?” Cass groused as Amalia assisted her to sit up, carefully wrapping a sheet around her.

“I can’t change your bandages, but— I could help you with the other things, Cass.” Rapunzel offered.

Cass looked mortified, her cheeks flaming red.  **_“No!_ ** _ No, thank you, Raps!” _ She hunched in on herself. “Please— no.”

“Cass, seriously, you’ve helped me dress a thousand times. It’s not going to offend me to help you change undergarments.”

“You realize that’s not all, Raps.” Cass fixed her with a level stare, her cheeks still a hectic red. “It’s called a water closet for a reason.”

“Oh. _Oohh.”_ Rapunzel blinked and then shook her head. “It’s fine. We’ll manage.”

Cass shook her head. “It’s not that I don’t appreciate the offer, really, but—” She glanced at Eugene and looked away, her color intensifying. Her voice dropped to almost a whisper as she mumbled. “— it’s embarrassing to need help with that.”

Rapunzel brushed her hair back with a determined, if embarrassed look. “It’s okay, Cass. We can manage it together. It's nothing to be embarrassed about.”

“Says you,” Cass grumbled as Amalia helped her to her feet.    
  
Rapunzel sighed. “I want to help you, Cass. I’ll be along in just a minute, give her enough time to change your bandages first.”   
  
Cass groaned but hobbled along, leaning on the shorter girl.   
  
Rapunzel turned to her husband. “I need a favor, love.”

“Oh?”

She kissed his cheek and then whispered in his ear.   
  
Eugene gave her a dubious look. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”   
  
“Trust me.”   
  
“With my life— but this can only end well.”

“It will, promise.” She grinned up at him.

“That was sarcasm, Sunshine.”

She pouted. “Just do it, please.”

“Only for you.” He headed for the door. “I’m trusting you with keeping the bloodshed to a minimum.”

“Eugene!”

True to her word, she was at the water closet, ready to help as soon as Eugene had returned with his prize, and something else she had not expected. Scratching sheepishly at the back of his neck, he explained his reasoning. Delighted, she flung her arms around his neck and pulled him down into a breath-stealing kiss that left them both flushed and panting.

“You can thank me like that any time, Sunshine,” he murmured, pressing a much more chaste kiss to her forehead.

Taking the unexpected treasure he had brought and bundling it into the crook of one elbow, she tapped on the door to the water closet. Cass was standing up, one hand braced on the wall for balance, entirely nude, as Amalia finished wrapping her abdomen with fresh bandages. Her underclothing and the soiled bandages were in a basket that Rapunzel moved to one side. She set her burden on the tiny counter that held the remainder of the bandages, and turned with a firm smile on her face. “I have surprises for after, Cass, to make you feel better about this whole thing.”

~

Rapunzel helped snug the breastband into place, paying no mind to the blush on Cass's face. She was not comfortable having to be helped with a lot of things that she needed help for, like getting dressed and more  _ personal _ functions, but Rapunzel was content to act like it was nothing out of the ordinary, and surprisingly, it helped her get past the embarrassment. Rapunzel offered the first of her surprises, one of Eugene's old tunics, worn and soft from much use, that laced entirely up the front so it would be easy for the wound to be treated, while still allowing her a modicum of modesty. She hadn't felt comfortable being so unclothed around anyone, least of all her newfound sibling and her father.

Wearing it, though it hung loose around her, Cass felt far less out-of-balance. Clothing was an armor of sorts, much like her chainmail. With it, she did not feel nearly so vulnerable. “Hey, Raps? Thanks for this." She plucked at a sleeve.

“You are more than welcome. Don't tell Eugene I told you, but it was his idea. He said you might feel better with something to wear."

“Huh. I guess some of your brains eventually had to rub off on him."

“Cass. He  _ is _ your brother!"

“As I'm sure he'll be  _ happy _ to tell you, he got all the looks, so I must have gotten all the brains."

“Oh, you..." Rapunzel snickered.

Rapunzel helped her back to the cot, and settled her into place, propping a stack of pillows between her back and the wall so she could sit more upright. Eugene was by the far wall, futzing with something she couldn't see. At last he planted his hands on his hips and uttered a triumphant  _ “Ha!" _

He turned. "Ready, Sunshine?"

“We are!" Rapunzel grinned, clapping her hands.

“We found a way for you to practice your stings, Queen Cobra, without hurting yourself any more." Eugene said with a mocking spread of his arms.

“That's worse than Sister Slither," Cass snarled at him. "Stop adding royal titles."

“Can't help it. You  _ are _ royalty." So saying he stepped aside. "Behold, a way to take out all that pent-up aggression without causing me and your dad more gray hairs."

“So you admit you are old."

That earned her a downright lethal glare as she stared at what he had affixed to the wall where he had been standing. It was round, made of wood and cork and had concentric circles painted on it.

“A dartboard?” She asked.

Eugene fanned out several feathered darts between the fingers of each hand with a flourish. The ones in his right hand had plain gray goose quills while the ones in his left had been dyed a vibrant blue. “Light enough to keep your accuracy up without pulling any more stitches. That way, if you really have to use your knives, you won't be out of practice from having been stuck in a bed so long.” He offered both hands to her. “So pick a set, Princess Prickly, and let’s see who’s accuracy is better.”

“You’re gonna be full of holes if you don’t stop with the gods-be-damned nicknames,” Cass snarled as she eyed the darts, picking the undyed ones and weighing them thoughtfully in her hands. The points were a little duller than she would have liked, but since these weren’t meant to be a weapon, they would do.   
  
Rapunzel put a hand over one of hers. “I will take these away from you if you consider throwing them at people. And that includes Eugene.”

Cass offered her a dangerous smile. “Aww, take all the fun out of it, Raps.”

“In no way is that fun, Princess Pointy.” Eugene put in. “Shall we play before you get any new ideas about putting unneeded holes in my body?”

Dropping the rest of the darts in her lap, Cass flung one with her scarred hand. It landed just right of the very center of the target. “Your turn, Fitzherbert.”

“Still got your sting, I see.” But Eugene stood beside her cot and tossed his own dart, which landed a little below hers and left of center. He frowned at it as Rapunzel went to go fetch both darts. “Hmm—”

Cass smirked at him and sent her second dart into the center of the target. “Getting rusty?”

“Oh, bring it  _ on, _ sister!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As someone who has had abdominal surgery, there are a _lot_ of things that are not fun when you are sutured from ribs to hip. Bending is one of them and personal hygiene is a lot harder. And considering this is a time before they had all the medical aids that we have nowadays, well-- I leave it to you to imagine what Cass is going through.
> 
> Next Chapter: A return to the Dark Kingdom; the dark rises again. The hunt is up. The end of an Order.


	15. The Fall of an Order

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to be brutally honest; this chapter has had me worried about posting it, not for blood and violence, as regular readers will have already seen worse, but because it takes place almost entirely in the Dark Kingdom and is original character-heavy. I started in fandoms at a time when OC's were a _**huge** no no_, so despite the continued reassurances of my co-author, I live in terror of opinions on this chapter.

Edmund stood sword straight in front of Frederic and Arianna, his heavy head held at an angle that looked almost painful. He was trying for regal, but the raven hanging upside down from the epaulet of his tunic rather ruined the effect.

“Are you certain?” Arianna questioned again. “Your son is ill and your daughter, wounded. There is no shame in staying close until they are nearer to recovery.”

“Dear Lady. while I would like nothing so much, it is best if I go home and make sure the corruption of those who would murder my heirs has not spread further. Hector is on the hunt, and if it is one thing he does and does well, it is hunt. But I need to be sure that the filth they spread has not found more ears. I will not have unrest like theirs in my kingdom, not when it is only now starting to recover. I would trust in you to keep my children safe, while I root out this sickness.”

“You know we will.”

“I know, Dear Lady, believe me, I know. There are those here who will fight tooth and nail for them.” His deep-set eyes looked saddened. “While I can offer nothing at the moment but my assurances that this will not happen again. Not while it is in my power to hunt down the corrupted priesthood that thinks they can pass judgement on who is a worthy heir to the Dark Crown.”

“I understand. But do you not think it will—”

“You are smarter than to play that card. They will be more happy to see the back of me for a time.” Edmund fixed her with a level stare that showed the king he was in his prime, before madness and melancholy had chipped away the polish to reveal the flaws underneath.

“I fear you do not give them enough credit.”

“Perhaps. But for now, I have work to do.”

“Of course.” Frederic said. “The burdens of the crown weigh on you. But you need only send us a message,” he gestured at the raven, which had righted itself and was now attempting to preen a lock of Edmund’s hair, but missing it more often than not. “And we will send a balloon for you to fetch you back.”   
  
Edmund looked surprised but bowed his head graciously to his fellow monarch. “That is kindly done.”

Arianna sighed. “Then like my husband, I cannot hold you, but do come back as soon as you can. There is much to work out still between our kingdoms, sister as they are now.”

“I—”

“Look at our ties, dear friend. How could we be anything but with all the bonds of love and blood between our children?”

Edmund stood there for a long moment in stunned silence, before stepping forward to take her hand and press a courtly kiss to the back of it. “As ever, you cut to the heart of the matter with grace and skill. We are lucky to have you on our side.”

“Edmund— Eugene would be happier to see the end of potential political issues, that is true. But never the back of you.” Arianna somehow reassured and chided at the same time. “He loves you, do not forget this or he will think said love holds no value.”

Edmund’s eyes were damp as he placed a second kiss on her hand. “You are a wise woman, Queen Arianna. Would that all the kingdoms had someone like you on their thrones.” He bowed low and made his way out of the throne room.

Arianna sighed and pressed fingers to the bridge of her nose. “Why is it that each new solution brings only a hundred more problems?”

“Dearest?"

“Frederic, I think I will leave the court in your hands for a time. I feel a need for air before this headache gets any worse.”

Frederic looked concerned but had learned his lessons well. “Of course, my beloved. Perhaps a ride will clear your head? Only do not outrace your guards this time.”

She managed a small laugh. “If only for the sake of those whom I love, I will not.” She touched his arm and rose from her seat.

Arianna caught up to Edmund before he had reached his quarters. “Edmund!”

He looked startled to see her but still managed a courtly bow. “My Lady?”

“I have one more request of you before you leave.”

“If it is within my power, Dear Lady, it is yours.”

“Go see your children before you leave. It will do them and you good.” She said with a gentle smile.

“I fear you overestimate how much my daughter wants me in her life. And my son—”

“Will feel less abandoned if you tell him  _ why _ you are leaving him now, when he is worn and ill. Assure him that you are going to hunt down those that pushed him to this point, for his sake. You would be surprised by how much goodwill that will earn you. And Cassandra— she is stubborn— give her time to change her views on you. Going to see her; going to assure your son that he has is not being pushed aside— it will earn you some of her approval as well. She is not without her own affection for him, though they squabble. They were siblings at heart, long before they were blood.” Arianna added with a smile, reminding him of the tales she had shared of the lives he had so long not been a part of.

“I defer to your wisdom,” he bowed.

A small, but firm, hand cupped his jaw. “Don’t defer to me. Use your own judgement. You know how to assure them that they have places in your heart.”

“As wise as you are gracious and beautiful.”

“You flatter me. Go, remind your children that you do not leave them for any reason but to keep them safe.”

In spite of her words, Edmund found himself hesitating outside the infirmary door. In spite of the looks the guards gave him, he spent a good several minutes muttering to himself to drum up the nerve to actually see them. At last, with a nod at the guards, he opened the door just a crack.

“Hah, beat that one, Dragon Lady!”

“As if it’s really that hard. Watch and learn.”

He opened the door a little further to see Cassandra, propped up against a veritable nest of pillows, sending a dart at a board affixed to the wall directly across from her cot. In spite of her words, she was wearing that small smile he had come to learn meant she was happy and content. It was not one he had seen her wear very often, usually only in the company of the princess she had pledged her sword to.

Standing beside her cot, Eugene was spinning a dart between his clever fingers and looking far less worn than the last time Edmund had seen him. Eugene flashed a cocky grin at the woman on the bed, and something in Edmund’s chest warmed. Arianna was right. They were getting along the way that worked best for them. The teasing, the verbal jabs— it was their way of showing affection for each other.   
  
Even the princess, seated in a chair with her feet tucked up, seemed to understand that, watching them both with an affectionate smile that didn’t falter.

Eugene tried for a trick shot next, but only managed to drop the dart before he could release it, leaving him standing there in a very awkward position and staring at the blue feathered dart sticking in the toe of his boot.   
  
Cassandra started laughing, holding her wounded belly in pain, but unable to stop the merriment that filled her. After a moment, Rapunzel joined in and then so too did Eugene, laughing as he balanced on one foot to pull the dart free of the leather.

He almost quietly closed the door, unwilling to interrupt such joy. But Arianna's words echoed in him. No, he would not abandon his son again, even temporarily. Bracing himself for the awkward silence that would follow, he opened the door enough to step inside.

“No one saw that— uh, hi, Dad—?” Eugene awkwardly dropped his foot back to the floor. “Um, wanna play a round of darts? Cass is kicking my ass at it so maybe if we team up against her—?”

He honestly debated it for a moment. For just one moment, feeling like a part of their lives. But he had come for a purpose, and Frederic was already having a balloon prepared. “While I would like nothing more, perhaps another time. I am heading back to the Dark Kingdom as soon as a balloon is ready.”

Eugene dropped the dart he was holding. “Wha—? Why now?” On the cot, Cassandra had straightened, still holding her wound, but watching him attentively. 

Rapunzel pushed herself to her feet. “Edmund?”

“Hector has gone ahead to start the work, but I go to be certain the poison of the Order has spread no further. Here, I can do nothing to protect you, but out there, I can rout those who would hire murderers to kill the heirs of two kingdoms. To kill my children and their closest.”

Eugene winced. “I get that, Dad, really, I do, but do you have to go now?”

Edmund sighed and reached out to ruffle his hair. “Son, I love you and I cannot simply stand idly by while those that hurt you and your sister are out there. Here, I can do no more than any guard might, but I go to cut the head off of the serpent, so its fangs can bite no more.”

“Dad—”

“Wish me well, is all I ask. I will return when this threat is dealt with.” Edmund rested his hand on Eugene’s shoulder.   
  
His son nodded slowly, one hand coming up to cover the hand on his shoulder. “I do wish you well, just don’t let the snake bite you. Neither of us are ready to lose you.” He glanced back over his shoulder to Cass, who was watching quietly. 

“I have no intention of being the next victim of their corruption, son.”

Eugene nodded again and suddenly pulled Edmund into a hug. “Just come back safely, please.”

Edmund curled his arm around Eugene and stroked his hair, relieved. “How could I do anything less?”

When Eugene had released him, Edmund approached Cassandra’s cot, where she watched him with wary, storm-cloud eyes. “Cassandra—”

“King Edmund?” She returned, her tone cautious. She was holding onto one of her darts like it was a weapon. She was like a sword, held ready to strike. She would never be a princess like Rapunzel. She was a warrior, a blade honed and tempered in fire. The only thing they had in common was their determination and their willingness to give all to protect those they loved. And that they loved those around them with a fierceness willing to brave death.

And perhaps that was better for the princess of the Dark Kingdom, to be a warrior. Time would tell. “Rest well and recover. And keep your brother in line.”

“Hey!” Eugene protested.

The tiniest smirk tilted her lips upward. “I will.” To his surprise, she left the dart in her lap and offered her hand, palm upward and fingers slightly curled. It was a warrior’s handclasp of old, a gesture he had learned at his father’s knee. He held out his arm and carefully wrapped his fingers around her much smaller wrist, feeling hers close around his wrist in turn with a firm grasp. 

“May you hunt well and return in triumph.” She said without a trace of her usual sarcasm.

His heart swelled. “Thank you, Cassandra.” he returned carefully. 

Her tiny smile edged closer to a genuine one. “Cass.”

"Cass," he repeated, unable to keep from smiling. Perhaps their relationship was not so irreparable as he had thought. "Until then."

Rapunzel came over and stretched up on her toes to try and kiss Edmund's cheek. "Come back safely."

He obligingly bent a little so she could reach. "I will, dear child. I trust you to look after these two."

"I will. I am  _ never _ risking losing them again."

He beetled his brows at her. "I still want an explanation for that."

To his surprise, she hugged his neck. "Come back safely and I promise to tell you. All of it."

He wrapped his arm around her tiny waist and lifted her in a return hug. "I'll hold you to that."

He took his leave of his children with a surprisingly light heart. The balloon would be ready within the hour and he had packing to do. "Hamuel, what kind of souvenir do you think I should bring my son?"

Hamuel tilted his head upside down and quorked twice.

"Capital idea! I knew you would have a good one!”

Hamuel flipped his wings and made a sound that could best be described as a pleased purr.

Chuckling at his pet's cleverness, Edmund continued on his way.

~

_ (Somewhere in the Dark Kingdom) _

Panting and bleeding from the claws of the two beasts that had been chasing him relentlessly since dawn, a priest scrambled over a fallen rooftree in an abandoned village that had fallen prey to the black rocks years before. He found an attic window into the interior of the collapsed building. There wasn't that much space inside but the window was too small for the beasts to fit though and might give him some breathing space. Scrambling inside and ignoring the splinters that stabbed him, he pushed himself as far back as he could, back against some broken boards and watching the tiny window warily. He did not have enough of his tools to work anything beyond the most basic of magics and nothing he had would work on two beasts with their blood high from the chase.

“Not particularly smart, priest.” Bright, and  _ familiar, _ acid-yellow eyes peered into his sanctuary. “You realize binturongs are  _ diggers _ , right?”

Sharp claws tore into the wood of the tiny window frame like it was made of grass, ripping chunks away.

“Hector!” the priest shouted, using his legs to try and push himself further against the rubble at his back. “Why are you doing this? Have you  _ lost your mind?” _

“No more than usual.” Hector made a show of examining his nails. “As for the why, did you really think your king would take a conspiracy to murder his kids without hunting down... Every... Single... One... Of... You?” On the last word Hector shot his arm into the window and hauled the flailing priest out into the open, leaving him sprawled in the rubble.

He scrabbled backward away from the madman and the two beasts who were looking at him like he would be a snack. Putting his back against the rubble of the building, he held his wounded side, panting harshly, and glared at Hector.

"I would have thought you of all people would understand." The bleeding Priest hissed at Hector. "No one so soft could be trusted with the throne."

Hector chuckled. "Here's the thing people like you or I can't understand. The Prince and Princess? They're soft because they want to be. But if someone threatens that? They get hard  _ real _ quick." He leaned in close, his unnatural eyes holding the priest hostage.

"Do you know what happened to the batch of assassins you sent? I never even got to play with them, you see. Less than a moment after they first fired, that  _ soft _ Prince had one's head smashed in, one's foot broken so he couldn't run, and a knife to the throat of the third. He kept one alive, so he could torture him for information. And when he found out it was the priesthood, his sword was bleeding out your man in as little time as it took to get to him.

"And the Princess? You forget when she felt she was wronged by her companions, she claimed the Moonstone, laid siege to a Kingdom, used the Mindtrap on all of us, and only stopped because she discovered she'd been tricked by Zhan Tiri and promptly took her revenge out on her. Me, I tried to embarrass her and, let me tell you, never saw a moment of peace since. Not a direct assault, but one designed to slowly drive me mad, with no one to aid me."

"You didn’t just make a mistake. You made several." Hector slipped his sword out. "Just be glad you get gutted by me and not them." With a feral grin, he flashed forward. The priest barely had drawn a breath to scream as his guts spilled. He never got the chance when the sword completed it’s return swing and cut his throat.

Laughing, Hector wiped arterial spray off his face.

Drang had lifted his heavy head and snarled an alert. His nose was pointed at the sky.

Leaving the priest to choke on his own blood, Hector followed the binturong’s line of sight. Drifting toward the castle on the wind, he saw a purple and gold balloon. It was too far away to see occupants, but he saw the black speck of a raven lazily circling the balloon. His king was returning!

Hector whistled for Liebe. The rhinoceros ambled up and nudged him with her snout. “C’mon, beautiful. Let’s be there to greet the King.” He tightened the cinch on her saddle and was about to mount up when he realized. “Oops, forgot something!” 

Deftly he separated the priest's head from his body and stuffed the head into a sack. “There we go! Something for the King.”

He swung up into the saddle. “Run like the wind, Liebe.”

~

He was waiting for Edmund on the plateau in front of the castle as the balloon touched down. He dropped to one knee as the king disembarked, offering up a meticulously cleaned skull. "As asked, Sire, a present for your daughter. The high priest of the Order." 

Edmund took the skull in hand and stared into the empty sockets. "Dare to touch my children?" he chuckled darkly before returning his attention to Hector. "How goes the hunt?"

"One last enclave to clean out, my Liege, their monastery in the North mountains. That should be the last of them." Hector gestured to the side where a pile of mouldering heads in various stages of decay were heaped up. His latest prize rested on the top of the pile— staring, empty eyes fixed on the king.

Edmund raised an eyebrow. “I do believe I only asked for this one.” He lifted the skull in his hand.

Hector grinned toothily. “I wanted to give you proof.” He scratched idly at a drying patch of blood on his cheek. “Will you be joining me on the hunt, my Liege?”

Edmund nodded ponderously. “I will. But there is still work to be done once the hunt is ended. How many have listened to and heeded the words of these wretches?” He swept his skull-laden hand at the pile of heads.

Hector cracked his neck. “If you will forgive the impertinence, Sire, not as many as one might think. They mostly kept everything close to the chest. The only places I heard rumors of the ‘unsuitability’ — their words, Sire— of the heirs, were here, in the castle proper. My Sister is already speaking with the servants— she implied that  _ she _ would be better suited to the task— to see what they know and how many have listened to the vitriol of the Order. From her report, very few paid heed, being that a great many of your current staff came from places the three of them passed through in their journey here.” Hector shrugged. “They mostly seem convinced that the Order was incorrect in their— assessment of your heirs, Sire. I’m sure Adira could tell you more on that.”

Edmund studied him for a long moment. “Both heirs?”

Hector rubbed the scar across the bridge of his nose. “Adira would know better than I.”

“What do you know?” Edmund’s frown was implacable. 

“Many seem convinced that the la— Princess Cassandra has redeemed herself for the taking of the Moonstone— perhaps because my sister persists in relaying the accounting of the final battle with the demon— endlessly.” Hector snarled. “She seems convinced that in part, she took the stone because of Adira’s warnings.”

“Oh?”

Hector made a face, running a hand through his tangled hair. “You might do better to ask her, Sire. You know how little I cared about all of her Sundrop chatter.”

“Indeed.” Edmund glanced again at the pile of heads. “Perhaps I will have these cleaned and set up as a warning. But first, we must hunt out the rest of the order. You ascertained that all of them had some hand in the conspiracy?”

Hector flashed him a fey grin and held up a tiny bottle, about a third full of something purple. “Quirin’s boy is a clever one. He created this. It compels those dosed with it to speak the truth. I had the truth of the matter from their own mouths, Sire.” Hector grinned. “I had the drinks dosed with it before they sat to dinner. All it took were a few questions and—” He gestured at the decomposing heads. “They signed their own death orders.”

Edmund nodded. “They signed them when they thought I would not find out they had planned this. Go clean yourself up and then have Domino saddled. We ride out today.”

Hector swept him a bow, grinning wildly. “At once, my Liege.”

True to his word, Hector had Domino saddled and ready by the time Edmund had conversed briefly with Adira, assuring her that he had every intention of having his children come. He asked her to go into the vaults and find certain things before he returned, and she assured him that she would, and work toward getting the castle ready for Eugene and Cassandra.

They rode out before noon, Hector delighted to be back on the hunt and Edmund brooding silently as he rode. “Tell me, Hector— were any of them able to get word out before you dealt with them? Will they be expecting us?” he said at last.

“I do not believe so, Sire, unless it was by magic. I allowed none of the ones in the castle proper to escape, and I hunted down the individual ones outside the castle one by one and none knew I was coming for them.”

Edmund gave him a grim smile. “Then I have a plan."

It was very late afternoon when they rode openly up the path to the front gate of the monastery, a foreboding structure of dark stone with thick walls to keep out the cold winds of the mountains. Edmund fell back on his persona of genial and slightly absent-minded king, waving merrily to several of the priests, out among the hills gathering edible plants. Hector rode behind him, head down to hide the bloodthirsty gleam in his eyes.

An older priest hurried out of the gate to greet them with a low bow. “Your Majesty! To what do we owe the honor of your company?”

“I would have thought the High Priest would have spread the word to you!” Edmund boomed with a wide smile. “The mark has been confirmed. The Dark Kingdom has a second heir!”

There was a slight flicker in the priest’s eyes, but he reacted with what seemed to be genuine delight. “Indeed? What wonderful news! Please, Sire, do come inside and break bread with us this evening to tell us about our newest heir to the Dark Throne— um—”

“Princess Cassandra,” Edmund grinned wide, allowing the memory of her parting words to give his words genuine warmth. “I have a daughter as well as a son!”

“Wonderful, Your Majesty!” The priest bowed low. “Come, come— share our humble meal and tell us all about her!”

“I should be delighted to. Hector, go and hunt up something to add to our celebratory meal. Take it to the kitchens when you have. Have you accommodations for our beasts, priest?”

“Brother Enrod, Sire. We have a small stable for the two mules we use to make supply runs to the nearest village. It is small, but snug against the winds and we have no shortage of hay.”

“Wonderful.” Edmund dismounted and followed the priest to the stable, unsaddling Domino and Liebe himself. “Stay here, Hamuel. I will bring you your share of dinner myself.”

Perched atop Domino's head, the raven cawed.

Edmund followed the priest into the common room of the building, allowing himself to be seated in front of the crackling fire and listening to Enrod natter on about the Order and how pleased that they would be to hear about the heir. A comment about how he had come at a fortunate time; that all the brothers were back from their various tasks this evening, gave him the opportunity he needed. “And how many brothers are in this enclave. Brother? I do not wish to have to repeat the story too many times. It has been a long ride.”

Babbling apologies, Enrod poured him a glass of water. “There are twenty-three fully ordained brothers here at the moment, Sire. We have four novices in solitary contemplation who can hear the news from one of us later, so as to not disturb their devotions.”

"Ah, yes, it would not do to disturb them. They may hear the joyous news later.”

More priests trickled into the common room as the evening wore on, their voices a thrum of sound that Edmund was not used to after so many years alone. One came in, chattering with delight about the Crag-horn ram that Hector had brought in to supplement their dinner. He was currently in the kitchen with the Order’s cook, discussing sauces for the meat, according to the man. Edmund smiled and said it would be a wonderful addition to their meal to celebrate the confirmation of a second heir.

Soon enough, the cook came out to call them all into the dining hall for dinner. The smell of seared mutton filled the air, perfumed with spices and the sweet tang of winterberries. The cook made sure to offer Edmund the choicest slices glazed with a sweet berry sauce, and piled his plate with roasted tubers and stewed greens while a cook’s helper poured them all mugs of ale. 

Edmund counted heads and came up with a satisfactory total. All of the full priests were here. The only ones missing were the novices, and he was not worried about them. He caught Hector's eye and saw the slightest inclination of his head toward the man pouring the ale.

Smiling, Edmund lifted his mug into the air. “As I am sure you all know by now, one of the Order has verified the birthmark, and with it a second heir to the crown. Our princess, Cassandra!”

The members of the Order all lifted their mugs. “Princess Cassandra!”

Edmund tipped his mug, only letting the foam wet his moustache, but watching with satisfaction as the men around him drank the toast to his daughter. “Come, let us eat and then we will talk of our new princess,” he said cheerily and set down his mug to stab a piece of mutton with his fork. The priests fell to eating with gusto, talking among themselves and drinking with a cheer that almost seemed forced.

Hector had said it took a few moments for the dose to take effect, so he waited patiently until the meal was mostly decimated. Edmund rose to his feet. “As I said, let us talk of the heirs. How many of you knew of the foul plot to murder my children?”

_ “Everyone.” _

_ “All of the Order.” _

_ “We all did.” _

The answers overlapped but all were in the affirmative. Every single man looked appalled and several clapped hands over their mouths to stifle the betraying words, too little, too late.

Edmund bared his teeth in something that wasn’t a smile. “Then the Order  _ ends _ today.”

~

When the slaughter (and it was a slaughter, unarmed priests against two well armed warriors) was over, Edmund looked down on the face of Enrod as he gasped his last. “It wasn’t my children you should have been concerned with, it was me. I don’t take kindly to betrayal.”

Edmund contemptuously wiped the blood off the blade of his axe onto the dying man’s cassock. “Is there any of that potion left? He said there were four novices here, in solitary devotions.” He asked Hector.

Hector wiped gore off his hand on the robe of another body and dug in his vest pocket for the tiny vial, holding it up to the firelight. “Enough.”

“Good. Let us go find out if they were complicit in this.”

In the lower levels of the cavernous building, they stumbled across the first of the cells, a tiny, windowless stone room with a barred door. Inside was a cot and a desk with a single candle. And in the farthest corner, a boy, no older than his early teens, huddled in plain, undyed linen robes, dark green eyes wide and terrified when they unbarred the door. That changed when he caught sight of Edmund in the doorway. He stumbled forward, falling gracelessly to his knees to cling to the bottom of the king’s cloak.  _ “Your Majesty! _ Are the Prince and Princess alright? Did you stop the plot to kill them? Please tell me you did! They locked me up so I couldn’t run away and warn anyone.”

Startled, Edmund looked down into the wide, tearful eyes. “My children are alive, no thanks to this nest of vipers. What is your name, child?”   
  
“Horace, sire. My mother named me after the crown prince.”

Finding a half-smile curving his lips, Edmund glanced over his shoulder at Hector. “Go down to the kitchen and fetch food and drink back here while Horace and I find the other novices.”

Horace looked at Hector, bloody and glowering, and clung tighter to the edge of Edmund’s cloak. He flinched when Hector bowed.

Edmund waited until Hector was out of sight before offering his hand to the shivering youth. “Come, Horace, let us find the others. Were they locked up too?”

It took a moment for the boy to find his voice after Edmund lifted him easily to his feet. “Yes, Sire. The bro— the priests said that none of us could be trusted to not run to seek help.”

“Indeed. You need not worry about them locking you up again.”

“Are— are they—?” Horace looked at the blood liberally spattering Edmund’s clothes and swallowed hard. “Are they dead, Sire?”

“They are. There are none left of the Order who betrayed their vows and country.” Edmund shook his head. “Show me where the others are being held.”

Horace timidly pointed down the corridor. “This way. Are— are we to—?” His voice broke off on a terrified sob.

“I do not kill innocents, Horace, least of all children. If you and the others had no place in their schemes, you shall go back to your kin.”

Horace shook a little before he regained control of his voice. “That’s fine for me, Sire, my mother works in the kitchens of the palace, but what about the others? Shion and Arvon have no family and Halleck ran away from his father after he beat his mother to death. They have no place to go.”

Edmund looked down at the boy, who— though terrified— still thought of others. “I will leave it to the High Priest of the new order— henceforth to be named the—  _ hmm, still got to think of something, we don’t want any association with those vipers _ — to decide on their disposition.”

“Who is the High Priest, sire?” Horace asked with a little more confidence. “Will he take us into the order?”

“You’ll have to ask him yourself, boy.”

“Sire?” 

They were passing one of the tall windows and Edmund turned the boy toward it. His pale, frightened face reflected clearly in the glass, lit by the lamps in the hall. “Horace, High Priest of the Order... of Restoration—  _ yes, I quite like that one—  _ will you take in those children and work to restore the honor of the keepers of the bloodline of the Dark Kings?”

“Sire?” Horace’s voice was a squeak.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Edmund decreed. “Come, let’s free them and get you fed. When was the last time you ate, boy? You’re thin enough to see through.”

Horace stumbled after him in a daze. “This morning, I think?” His voice was small and confused.

“You think?”

“I think I might need to sit down.”

“Yes, yes, we will find you a place to sit after we have freed the others. What are you doing? The floor is no place to sit— oh, drat, you’re unconscious. That’s not good.”

~

Two days later, Edmund and Hector rode up to the palace with one newly minted High Priest and three frightened boys ranging from Horace’s fifteen to Halleck’s ‘almost twelve’ crowded into the cart hauled by two mules tied to the back of Domino’s saddle, since none of them had the first idea how to drive a cart.

Adira, forewarned by a note sent with Hamuel, waited on the steps with a taller woman whose tawny reddish hair, whipping around her face in the brisk breeze, was a match for Horace’s. Horace didn’t wait for the wagon to stop, tumbling out and running to the woman, who enveloped him in a tight hug. He sagged against her. “Mama—”

She smoothed a hand over his back while Edmund halted Domino and the mules. When he dismounted, she stepped away enough to dip into a graceful curtsy. “Thank you for bringing my son home, Your Majesty."

Edmund looked down on her bowed head and smiled. "Your son is an honor to his name."

Her cheeks were pink when she looked back up, but her smile was fierce. “Many thanks, Sire.” Her gaze went past him to the three boys standing awkward and frightened by the wagon. “If you will forgive me—” She hustled over to the group of youths and gathered them under her arms like a hen would shelter chicks under her wings. “Come inside out of the wind and get something hot and filling inside of you. Then I think all of you could use some sleep.”

Coaxing them all, her own son included, toward the doors, she dipped another curtsy and herded her little flock inside.

Edmund chuckled. “I quite like her.” He turned his attention to Adira, standing patiently by. “Did you find what I asked?”

She bobbed an abrupt nod. “I did. Everything is in the library, Your Majesty.”

“Good, good. Let’s go see. Hector, will you see to Domino and these poor creatures?” He gestured at the mules, standing tired and heads low.

Hector nodded and dismounted from Liebe. He gathered up the reins and clucked softly at the mules, urging them toward the stables.

Edmund waved Adira ahead of him and headed for the library. Some things were too important to wait.

On the dark oak table in the center of the library, two similar wooden boxes rested beside a chest of oak, banded with iron straps. Ignoring the boxes for the moment, Edmund opened the chest with an iron key Adira had fetched from his study. Inside the chest was a leather-bound tome half again as thick as any other book on the shelves. He opened the book and paged through it before coming to a stop, resting a thick finger on the words of one page. “Here. This is it.”

“Are you certain?” Adira asked softly, her painted face unreadable. 

“Yes— yes, this will be my gift to him. I’ll need to seek out a scribe before I head back to Corona and have copies made. One for King Frederic’s records and one for him to keep.” Satisfied, Edmund set the heavy book aside and turned his attention to the two boxes. 

He opened the top one and a wry smile curved his lips. “I haven’t seen this since my own coronation.” He lifted out the simple black circlet that lay within the box. Like the Dark Crown it was modeled after, the front rose to a point, flanked by two smaller points. It did not have the smaller points that the Crown resting on his own head did, this simpler circlet of the Heir, though it did have a smaller purple gemstone set into the tallest point like the large one the crown sported. He ran his thumb over the gem before returning it to its box. 

The second box held a circlet almost the same as the first, though it was thinner and more delicate-looking. The circlet had been made for Alessian, the only female heir before his daughter— his very own mother. It was fitting that her granddaughter wore it. He closed both boxes and passed them to Adira. “Have these polished and the settings tightened. I’ll have them fitted properly after I present them.”

Adira accepted the boxes and bowed over them. “As you command.” She turned on her heel and headed for the door.

“One more favor, Adira, if you will.”

She paused and turned back, one eyebrow raised. “Sire?”

Edmund sighed and for the first time in years, pulled off the necklace he had worn since his beloved wife’s death. Where the cord was knotted was a brass key, one she had worn on her chatelaine, and one he had used only once since, to lock the door on memories that at the time were too painful to bear. Carefully, he worked it free of the knot. “This is the key to my lady’s solar. Would you retrieve her journals for me?”

Adira’s expression softened for just a moment. She bowed. “Of course. Should I lock it up afterwards?”

Edmund’s hand tightened into a fist for just a moment. “No. See if one of the maids will clean and dust in there. Perhaps my children should like to see their mother’s things.”

Adira hesitated. “Forgive me, but you are sure they will come? Their ties to Corona are strong.”

Edmund looked past her, his eyes tired and sad. “I cannot force them to come, no— not without shattering the bonds I have only begun to forge with them, but this kingdom will need a ruler when I am gone.” He shook his head, chasing away the ghosts. “I am working toward creating more ties to this place than merely those of blood. I cannot keep them— but a visit to a sister kingdom would do no harm and might let them see what the Dark Kingdom could be.”

“Sister kingdom?” Adira asked carefully.

“As Queen Arianna has reminded me, our families are now and forever tied. Rapunzel would no more forsake my son than he would her. And Cassandra— she will not betray the princess who forgave her, ever again. I have seen their bonds of love and loyalty with my own eyes. It is not everyone that will take an arrow for their kin.”

“I would.” 

“I know you would, Adira.” Edmund gave her a small smile. “But many others will not, and I watched Cassandra shove my son from the path of an arrow without hesitation. Those three are tightly bound together, with ties forged and reforged into something I think no man could sunder— and I think I would not like to be the one to try.”

He smoothed his fingers over the book sitting before him. “I am hoping my gifts are also the first steps in building toward a brighter future than this Kingdom has ever known.”

A slow smile worked its way across her painted face. “I think perhaps they will, Sire.”

“Hmm. Tell me, Adira, do you still maintain your carving hobby?”

She looked a little surprised that he remembered. “Not as much as I used to, living outside the Castle, but yes.”

“Then I have a commission for you.”

She bowed. “My skills are yours to command.”

“I will not command an artist at their art. We will work together on it.”

~

Edmund weighed the skull in his hand, studying the details. 

Around the eye sockets the design was feather-like, sweeping out over the brow-ridge and temples in a way that was strongly reminiscent of an owl. The empty sockets and nose furthered that impression, tiny lines added that reminded one of a bird's nares and beak. On the forehead, etched out with exacting skill and inlaid with silver, a single word in angular runic, "Oathbreaker." Driven through the top of the skull was a dagger identical to the one found in the dead priest's hand, carved whorls strongly resembling dripping blood, down to the red ocher rubbed into the graven lines, curving down the sides of the skull from the blade. Along the jawbone a pattern had been carved, interlocking crescents, sun bursts and the Dark Kingdom's own comet-like emblem, repeating over and over up the sweep of the jaw. 

Setting the skull down, he ran a finger over the delicate pattern on the jaw and raised one eyebrow at Adira.

She returned the look, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. “You said it yourself, Sire. I thought it appropriate to show those bonds in some way.”

Edmund allowed himself a smile. “Well done, Adira. You have exceeded my expectations. I am pleased with this. I think my daughter will be as well.”

A mischievous smirk made her eyes sparkle. “Do make sure you tell her who did the carving, Sire. The look on her face alone shall be worth every hour of the past week I put into it.” She tapped her bottom lip thoughtfully. “I wonder if the Sundrop will capture it for me in a painting?”

“Adira, she is the crown princess now, you know.”

“Ah!” Adira’s eyes lit up and she scooped the skull off his desk to hold up. “We get them to pose, the prince and princess, both holding the skull, and have the Sundrop paint them. Whenever she needs to, she can remind Short-hair who carved this for her, so she holds that expression. We can hang it in the throne room!”

Edmund couldn’t help the bark of laughter. “Are you going to spend any moment you can antagonizing my daughter?”   
  
“Would you expect me to do otherwise, Sire?”

“Not in the least.”

“See, you understand. I think it would look best on the north wall, where everyone will see it as they come in to see you.” Adira continued gleefully.

“As a reminder of what happens to those who betray?” Edmund rubbed his jaw thoughtfully. 

“Take the fun out of it, Sire.” 

He took the skull back from her, setting it aside with a chuckle. “Do not irritate her overmuch, Hector learned that it is not wise.” 

Adria raised both eyebrows. “... oh, this I have to hear.”

Edmund snorted a laugh. “You’ll have to ask him yourself. I would bring plenty of spirits to salve his temper, though.” He looked down at the pages he had spread on his desk before Adira had come to present him with the skull. The scribe he had hired had done a marvelous job, each carefully inked line clear and crisp. He traced careful fingers over the words. “Adira, would you find Horace and send him to attend me? I will need his verification on this.”

She bowed her head and left him, ostensibly to do as he asked but probably to raid the wine cellar along the way, to cadge the story out of Hector later. 

While he waited, Edmund rose and went to the bookshelves that flanked the single window. It took some searching, for he had not looked at them since Melisande’s passing, but at last he found a box that contained what he sought. One had been Melisande’s, a painting of Edmund when he had barely been his son’s age, given to her when they had been betrothed. 

Beneath it was the one he had received in return, a palm-sized portrait of Melisande at the same age. Though it looked just like her, it did no justice to the vibrant life that had enchanted him from the moment they met face to face. He touched her painted cheek gently and set it aside. There was another portrait done some years later, after they had been wed, where the painter he had commissioned had managed to capture some echo of that vibrancy. Smiling, he put both of the paintings on his desk to take with him.

There was a timid knock on the door and he looked up. “Enter.”

Horace, clad in much finer robes than those of the novice he had been, cut down from some of Edmund's old robes of state, bowed his way into the room. He still looked as if he feared for his life. He was followed into the room by— oh, yes, his mother— who had two heavy books clasped to her thin chest. Even hampered by them, she managed a credible curtsy.

“Horace, I sent for you in your new role as the high priest of the order, Was it really necessary to bring—?”

“Dessa, Sire.” The woman met his gaze with startling green eyes. “Horace said you needed him to verify something. That is why I am here.”

“Oh?”

Horace finally spoke, his voice small. “Your Majesty— you know I was just a novice. I had no access to any of the secrets of the order. The only reason I knew about the conspiracy was because most of the time they acted as if I were dumber than the furnishings, unable to hear or act. It was when I tried to carry a warning away that they decided to lock the four of us away. I—” he hesitated and then seemed to gather his courage around him like a cloak. “My mother, Sire, she knows things I don’t even think the priests knew anymore, like—”

Dessa took over for him. “Like the fact that the original order was not priests. The name of the Order in those days was the Guardians of the Dark Throne. Only the leader had any magic, and he was the one who helped Sorcerer-King Bernhard create the Mark and the spell that bound it to the bloodline of the Dark Kings. His name was Olivan and he was a Loremaster, and those he raised to the original order were what later became your own Brotherhood, My Lord.”

Both of Edmund’s eyebrows shot up into his hairline.

“Just how is it you know all this? Bits of lore forgotten even by the priests?” Edmund regarded her with narrowed eyes,

Beside her, Horace quailed, shrinking back. Dessa shrugged, though her posture was still that of a subservient underling. “Before you evacuated the kingdom, Sire, I worked in Your Majesty's library. When the library master died and there was no one to replace him, I took on his duties. I copied older manuscripts and transcribed damaged books and even translated what I could, though I only know two other languages with any real skill. I learned a lot in those years, tending your books, Sire.” She hiked the two books she held up a little higher as if to emphasize her words.

Edmund harrumphed. “Then why are you working in the kitchens?”

“When you returned, Sire, I followed you from Vardaros, for the Castle had always been my home. But at first it was just you and the two members of the Brotherhood. But I could not see my king eating half-charred meat roasted over a fire like they did. I'm no grand cook, but I can cook and you needed one to keep you fed. At the time that was more important than a library that no one used. But I still remember all the things I read and how to look for what I don't know. When you named my son the new leader of the order, he came to rely on those skills of mine.”

Horace managed to find his voice again. “My mother— what I know is a drop compared to the ocean she holds. Maybe she doesn’t have the title, but she’s a Loremaster too, and maybe you don’t think I should need to listen to her wisdom, but I have to or I’ll drown and take what little is left of the order with me.”

Dessa had not moved, but Edmund could see her knuckles had gone white on the edges of the books. He looked again at Horace, terrified, but defiant on his mother’s behalf. What began as a sigh soon emerged as a full-fledged bark of laughter.

It startled both of them, and chortling, Edmund waved them to sit. “How could I not heed the wisdom of one who carries the rank of Loremaster, unnamed or no? So both of you, come sit with me and help me get this right.” He gestured at the documents spread on the wood of his desk. “I would talk with you later, Mistress Dessa, on what must be done to return the Order and the Brotherhood to what they once were.”

“As you wish, my Lord.” Dessa set her books down on the edge of the desk with a thud and dropped down on the cushioned stool nearest her. Horace sat with more decorum, but it could have been his nervousness that made him move slowly. Edmund turned the papers around so they could both see what was on them. 

Horace choked on air.

Dessa’s eyebrow went up. “This is  _ unusual, _ Sire. I don’t know that there  _ is _ a precedent for this.”   
  
“But it can be done?” Edmund asked her, keenly interested and hiding a bit of worry behind it.

The look she shot him was bold and amused. “It just means that we make a new one, Your Majesty. That’s the easy part.”

“Oh, so what is the hard part?”

“Convincing everyone that it was already there.” She seemed to forget for a moment who she was talking to, flashing a gamine grin as she picked up one of the books she had brought with her, flipping rapidly through the pages. At last she settled on a page that was only half filled. “Hmm— I think— yes, this should do. Do you have a quill?”

“Mom!” Horace protested, as Edmund dug about for a quill and inkwell.

“Hmm?” She made an absent sound as she studied the page. “There should be just enough room. Have you any walnut ink? It’s the only thing that will dry to the right color.”

Edmund went hunting again as Horace tried another feeble protest.

Edmund was the one to reply this time. “This is a gift to my son, one that he will appreciate. Just because there is no previous record does not mean it cannot be done. Only that people will complain if they cannot have proof.” He produced a small bottle of brown ink and passed it to Dessa, who promptly shook it and dipped the quill he had given her into it.

She wrote quickly and precisely, her script a perfect match for the words already on the page. “Transcribing things, you learn how to duplicate existing work,” she said in an aside to Horace. He shut his mouth on something— whether comment or another protest— and simply watched her work with wide eyes.

Finally she finished and fanned the page with her hand to dry the ink before turning it to Edmund to read. 

“It looks impeccable to me, Loremaster, but you are the authority.”

Her smile was blinding. “It would take one of that rank with the addition of magic to tell the difference, Sire. I learned my work at the hand of the best, and he could not discern the difference in my work and the original when he did not see me copy it myself.”

Edmund matched her smile with one of his own. “Then I bow to your wisdom, Dame Dessa, Loremaster of the Restored Guardians of the Dark Throne.”

This time he surprised her. Dessa’s mouth opened in a wide oh, and she dropped the quill still in her hand, green eyes gone wide as her lips. “I—”

“I have named your son the High Priest of the order, but only you can tell me how to bring back what the first Guardian’s were, so his rank lies in your hand.” Edmund told her.   
  
“I’ll have to study more,” She managed in a wavering voice. “By your leave, may I have access to whatever papers the Order— left behind?”

“A loremaster need not ask my permission. Anything of theirs is yours.”

Dessa rose to her feet and dropped into a deep curtsy. “Then, I go to my work, Sire.” She hugged Horace around the neck and ruffled his hair. “Come, we have much, and very important work to do.”

A burden seemed to fall away from his shoulders. “Yes, ma’am.”   
  
“One last thing Horace. I need your signature on these. I intend to return to Corona within the fortnight to present them to my son.” He offered a fresh quill and a bottle of black ink that glittered with tiny flecks of gold. “If it will not offend your sensibilities, given all.”

Horace took a deep breath. “No, Sire. My life is yours.”

“Your life is your own, my boy.” Edmund rose from his seat. “I ask no more than that.”

Horace took the quill and signed his name where Edmund indicated. Edmund lit a candle and dripped wax the color of honey on the paper under Horace’s signature. He picked up his seal and pressed it into the wax. “There.”

He came around the desk and held open the door for them. “I do not know yet when I shall return, but I will want a report on what must be done to restore the guardians to what they once were.”

“You’ll have it, Your Majesty.” Horace promised.

Edmund closed the door behind them and carefully folded the papers, storing them in a weather-proofed leather haversack, adding them to the journals already there. He added the two portraits he had left on the desk. The circlets and skull were already locked in an iron-banded trunk for the trip back. He hoped his offerings were enough.

Sealing the haversack with a line of wax, he added it to the top of the chest. Reseating himself at the desk, Edmund wrote a note to Frederic, detailing what had occurred and adding that he was ready to return to Corona. Signing and sealing it, he went to the window and whistled for Hamuel. He caught the raven before he could crash into the stone next to the open window. He slid a leather harness over the bird’s leg and tightened the laces before slipping the letter into the carrier. “Take this back to my son, Hamuel. We will be going back to Corona shortly.”

The raven quorked a question, lifting the foot with the carrier to scratch his neck vigorously.

“Yes, it was an excellent idea and I have everything ready for his gift. I told you that already.” He carried the bird to the window and lofted him into the air. Hamuel plummeted several feet before remembering he had wings and beat his way into the sky, heading vaguely in the direction of Corona.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may have also decided ~~(there is no family tree of the dark kings in my notes, I swear)~~ that Edmund's mother was the solitary Queen we saw among the ancestral ghosts, being that his grandmother was from Ingvarr, where they value women warriors highly.
> 
> Also these chapters seem to be getting longer and longer. Do you guys want shorter chapters, or just keep going as we have been? Any guesses on what his gift for his son is? Comments are welcome to answer those and to soothe my frazzled nerves.
> 
> Next Chapter: Return to Corona. Gifts are given, and family stories are spun. Owl is best boy... and also an ass. All is good; or _is_ it?


	16. Return to Corona

The sky was only now pinkening with dawn, but a message-runner in Old Corona had spotted the balloon two hours ago and had come straight to the palace at a gallop, so Eugene, Rapunzel and Cass (newly released from the infirmary) were waiting at the landing courtyard. Rapunzel shivered in the chill pre-dawn air and glanced worriedly over at Cass, clad in a teal silk gown borrowed from Rapunzel’s own wardrobe. It only reached mid-calf on the taller woman, but the loose, uncorseted bodice would put no pressure on her healing wounds. 

Despite the chill she showed no sign of discomfort, other than occasionally scowling down at the elbow length sleeves and trying to keep herself from tugging the right one down over her scarred arm. Her hair was pinned up into a neat twist, with probably half a hundred pins taming the curls down, Rapunzel knew, considering she’d been the one trying to control it. Despite all that, a few stray curls had escaped to frame her face and tickle her bare neck in the breeze.

“Are you cold?” Rapunzel asked, sidling over to her, dew-wet grass tickling her bare toes.

“Ice women don’t feel the cold,” Eugene added. He shivered, even in his thicker tunic. “So she’s fine, Sunshine.”

Cass gave up tugging at the too-short sleeve and shot him a glare. “If you’re too cold, I can always set you on fire,” she retorted. “I’m fine— just wondering how I let you talk me into wearing this.”

“Because, like it or not, you’re a princess now, Cass,” Eugene shot back with a grin. “So you should dress the part when Dad gets here. Besides, the dress and your hair up almost makes you look like a real human, instead of a—”

“Eugene.” Rapunzel cut him off, pointing up at the sky where the gold sun crest on the balloon caught the first light of the rising sun. “He’s almost here.”

“Loosely translated, that means behave yourself.” Cass glared at him. “You forget, I’m on my feet again, which means not long before I can run you down and carve things in your arrogant hide.”

“Cass—” Rapunzel rolled her eyes. “It means both of you behave.”

Eugene snorted.

Cass made a scoffing sound. “As if he even knows how.”

“Both of you—” Rapunzel said, exasperated.

They hadn’t quite degenerated into verbal hair-pulling again by the time the balloon finally touched down and Edmund stepped down onto the grass, so Rapunzel only had to clear her throat for them to fall into place on either side of her. “Welcome back to Corona, King Edmund,” Rapunzel said, dipping a quick curtsy.

Edmund looked delighted to see them. “Son. Princess Rapunzel. Cassandra. It is good to see you all looking better.”

“Sending word that there wouldn’t be any more assassins sent after us did a bit of good,” Eugene chuckled before his father swept him into a hug.  _ “Oof.”  _

Edmund chuckled and released him. Eugene shook his head and tugged his tunic back into place. “Don’t try to hug Cass like that. She might bite.”

“Eugene,” Rapunzel scolded laughingly. “What he means is she’s still healing. The doctors only released her from the infirmary late yesterday afternoon.”

“Also she—” Eugene caught Rapunzel’s look and amended himself. “ — Isn’t a hugger.”

Edmund looked over at Cass, tilting his head to one side in a way that was eerily reminiscent of Hamuel. Grimacing, she dropped into a stilted curtsy, still unable to bend easily. “King Edmund.”

“Cass.”

She looked up, unused to hearing her nickname from him. He offered his hand in the same warrior’s handclasp she had offered him from her cot before he had left. She came up out of the curtsy and returned the courtesy, putting her smaller wrist into his and wrapping her fingers around his thick wrist. “We heard the report, but how went the hunt?”

“Well.” Edmund gave her a smile that still had a hard edge. “Those that sent orders for you and your brother to be harmed are no more.”

Cass returned a similar smile. “I wish I could have joined you in that hunt.”

“It would be a pleasure to hunt with you.”

“You two are entirely too bloodthirsty for my peace of mind.” Eugene added with an exaggerated shudder.

“Shall we go inside?” Rapunzel offered diplomatically.

Eugene bobbed an exaggerated bow and offered her his arm. Rapunzel rolled her eyes fondly, but accepted.

Edmund looked measuring at Cass before cautiously offering his arm. She sighed, stepping forward enough to rest her hand lightly on his forearm. Edmund accepted the gesture for what it was with a smile and escorted her after Eugene and Rapunzel.

“Will you want to see the king first, or would you like a chance to rest, King Edmund?” Rapunzel turned to look over her shoulder. 

“I should like to freshen up, dear child. If you would pass him the message that I intend to attend morning court, though?”

“Absolutely.” Rapunzel nodded. “Until we’re sure that no further assassins were hired before you— dealt with the problem, we’re limiting public access to the court.”

“That is more than fine. Some things should be kept more private.”

Eugene looked over his shoulder warily. “Dad, you’re not going to do anything embarrassing, are you?”

Edmund chortled. “Define embarrassing.”

Eugene groaned. “Sunshine, I think I’m going to go hide under a rock somewhere ‘til— oh, maybe winter.”

Rapunzel giggled, especially when Edmund sent her an exaggerated wink. “You hate roughing it.”

“It might be worth it.”

~

As promised, Edmund, freshly showered and dressed more properly than the traveling clothes he had been wearing, was there when Eugene escorted Rapunzel to her smaller throne, Cass trailing behind them. She had forgone her chain, the weight of it being too much pressure on extremely tender wounds, but she was unwilling to let Rapunzel attend court without her. Instead she had opted for a loose tunic over her bandages, and only her surcoat over it. She wasn’t intending to intercept any more arrows today.

As Rapunzel had said, court today was small, a handful of nobles and a few petitioners with problems Nigel had deemed worthy enough to need immediate attention. Frederic and Arianna greeted Edmund warmly and asked polite queries about how his trip had been, deliberately avoiding the reasons he had returned to the Dark Kingdom. For once he seemed to pick up on the subtext, answering in the same meaningless pleasantries and promising he would speak with them later. He retired to a seat provided for him on the dais while Frederic and Arianna judged disputes and offered solutions to problems. 

Finally, when the last of the petitioners had left, Edmund stood. Standing beside Rapunzel’s throne, Eugene flinched. Cass eyed him, wondering if he had any idea what Edmund was about today.

“If I might make a petition before the throne?”

Frederic looked startled, but Arianna calmly took over. “Your petition is heard, King Edmund of the Dark Kingdom. What do you seek?”

Edmund pulled a haversack from beneath his cloak. He cracked the wax sealing the flap down and pulled out a sheaf of parchment. He separated a handful of the pages and approached the throne. “For these to be entered into the public record of the royal family, into which my son has married.”

Frederic accepted the papers and skimmed over them, his eyes widening a bit. Arianna leaned over the arm of her throne to read too. Where Frederic seemed flummoxed, Arianna let out a peal of delighted laughter. “So noted. Let these records replace those in the public record. Nigel, be a dear and pull any references to Prince Horace of the Dark Kingdom and replace them with these.” She took the pages from Frederic’s slack fingers and passed them on to Nigel.

The advisor flipped through them, his eyes widening. “With all due respect, Your majesty, this is against all protocol. One cannot simply expunge the records of a royal bloodline, even one of a neighboring country!”

“Expunge? Dad, what’s going on?” Eugene seemed to have recovered from his surprise and strode toward them.

Arianna raised a hand to Nigel. “I am not telling you to expunge the records, Nigel. I am  _ ordering _ you to replace them with these— updated— copies. I trust everything is in order in your own records, Edmund?”

“Verily, dear lady. My Loremaster found the precedent for me and I made the needful changes myself to the royal bloodline’s records.”

Eugene had stopped, his face frozen in pained shock. “Dad? What? What are you talking about?” His eyes skated to the papers in Nigel’s hand. “Are— are you disinheriting me?”

“Never!” Edmund looked offended. “You are my beloved son. This is—”

Arianna spoke up. “Perhaps it is best if you show him, my friend.”

Edmund glanced at her. “Perhaps you are right.” He reached into the satchel again and pulled out the remainder of the papers, which he handed to Eugene.

While Eugene flipped through them, his face full of incomprehension, Edmund summoned the guard that had been assigned to him. The guard stepped forward, bearing an iron-banded box that Edmund unlocked before taking out a flat wooden box. He opened the box and lifted out a circlet of black metal. “I present this heir’s circlet to Prince Eugene, my son.”

Eugene still wasn’t getting it, too confused to do more than blink dumbly at his father. Sighing, Cass touched Rapunzel’s shoulder and stepped over to Eugene, looking over his arm at the pages. Even though it hurt her gut, she barked a laugh. “Oh, I get it!”

Eugene’s gaze snapped to her, all but begging her to share her understanding. She touched the thick parchment, her fingertip tracing along the words. “This is a copy of the legal records of your birth—”

“Our,” he corrected almost automatically.

“Fine, our. See, here’s where my name has been added in, but this, this is the important part,” she tapped a nail on one line in particular. “What does it say? Read it aloud, Fitzherbert.”

The sting of the name she had always goaded him with woke him up a bit. “ — Certify the births of Cassandra and Eugene to the royal line, children of Melisande and Edmund of the dark kingdom.” He glanced at his sister. “I still don’t get it.”

“What _name,_ Eugene—?” She rolled her eyes, tapping her nail on his name.

“Eugene— oh—” His eyes went wide. “You— you changed my name on the birth records?”

Edmund nodded, still holding the circlet in his hand. “You are now and henceforth, Prince Eugene. All records of Prince Horace have been replaced.” His gaze was hopeful. “My gift to you. Do you like it?”

“How—?” Eugene looked dumbfounded. “I think I need to sit down.”

“Not on the floor,” Edmund interjected. “I had enough of that with the new High Priest.”

Cass huffed air through her nose and steered him over to one of the petitioner’s benches, giving him a firm shove until he folded down onto the wooden seat. “There, you’re sitting, dummy. Better?”

He blinked at Edmund. “I—”

“I had nothing else I thought would mean more to you, son.” Edmund dropped ponderously to one knee in front of Eugene. “I thought you would like it.”

Eugene stared down at the papers in his hands, the papers that erased all records of the name he hated. “How—?” his voice wavered. “How could I not?”

He lunged forward and drew Edmund into a hug, squeezing tightly. “Thank you— thank you so much.” He honestly could have cared less that his voice was thick with tears and his eyes wet.

Edmund’s arm wrapped around him. “You are more than welcome, Eugene.”

His bark of laughter was more than half-sob, but it was so full of joy that even Nigel smiled.

When Eugene let him go, Edmund offered the circlet again. “This was mine when I was your age. The circlet of the heir. I hope you will accept it.”

Eugene glanced at Cass, still standing near the bench she had steered him to. “Um, but what about Cass?”

Edmund smiled and heaved himself back to his feet, returning to the guard and the chest he held. He withdrew a second box and opened it to present a more delicate version of the circlet in Eugene’s shaking hand. “My mother’s circlet, if you will accept it, Cass.”

Cassandra froze, gray eyes wide and alarmed. There was something of a hunted animal in her posture. “I—” Her eyes darted rapidly, first at the circlet in Edmund’s hand, then at the one in Eugene’s and then back to Edmund. Her breath came too fast and one hand went over her wound, fingers knotting in the silk of her surcoat. “It— it’s supposed to be an heir and a spare.” She managed, her voice cracking. “I’m just the spare. You— you’ve got him.” Her gaze jerked towards Eugene again.

Perhaps something of her very real panic got through to Edmund, for he approached her as one would a frightened horse. “Dear child— Cass— you are not a spare anything. Perhaps I am going about this backwards, but if I can buck tradition once, what’s to stop me from doing it again?”

"I— I don’t—”

“Both of you are my children and my heirs. I’ll not favor one child over the other, not when I have already failed both of you so many times.”

Her foot slid backwards and she looked like she was ready to turn and bolt. Eugene shook himself and rested a hand on her wrist. Her eyes darted to him, panicked. “C’mon, Cass, breathe.”

“I—” Her voice choked off.

“You already accepted that you are related to the most handsome man in the Seven Kingdoms.” He said softly. “Take a deep breath and accept that this is part of it too.”

The whole court was silent enough that the faintest trace of her half-hysterical laugh was audible to the whole room. “You—”

“Yes, we already established that’s me.”

All her air escaped in a rush that was almost laughter. She turned her attention to Edmund, standing there with the circlet and a very worried expression. “You know I’m no sort of princess, not like Rapunzel is—”   
  
“It would take all day to list all your shortcomings, Princess Porcupine.” Eugene goaded, then yelped as she dug an elbow into his ribs.

“Maybe I’m not the sort of princess you are, Cass.” Rapunzel padded over to them. “Maybe, you’re meant to be exactly what you are, a warrior who’s also a princess.” She took Cass’s hands and squeezed them tightly. 

Cass huffed a soft laugh. “Only you, Raps.” 

“You and me, Princess.” Rapunzel turned and took the circlet from Edmund, offering it to Cass. With shaking hands, Cass accepted it. 

She seemed to not know what to do next, so Eugene rose and took the circlet from her and replaced it with his own. She looked crosswise at him until he set the circlet on her head. “Well?” He ducked his head a little and she took the hint, resting his on his head, but not before ruffling his hair a little, earning a huffed, “Hey!”

Rapunzel grinned impishly and grabbed both their hands, pulling them into a quick bow before the thrones. “Mom, Dad, may I formally present  _ Princess _ Cassandra and Prince  _ Eugene,  _ twin heirs of the Dark Kingdom.”

Arianna laughed with honest delight, “Well met, Prince and Princess.”

Frederic looked slightly baffled, but decided following his wife’s lead was the most prudent thing to do and dipped his head in acknowledgment. “Well met.”

~

Edmund caught her in the hall, on her way to lock the circlet somewhere safe. She wasn’t wearing the damned thing, not after getting odd looks and hasty bows from Stan and Pete, who had known her since she was just a little girl. She didn’t think she could bear having people who knew her acting like she was something that she wasn’t.

“Cass— if you and your brother could spare the time, do you think you might meet me in the library later? I have some gifts I could not present in court.” 

Cass looked down at the circlet clenched in her hands. She wasn’t entirely sure she could survive another gift.

"I can ask him but Rapunzel is sitting in on evening court, so neither of us could get away until after dinner at the earliest. Would that work, or do you want to postpone, Your Majesty?”

“This evening will be fine.” Edmund hesitated before clearing his throat. “I— urhm— I know you will never call me father, but please, if you would just call me Edmund. No titles between family.”

Cass chewed on her bottom lip, reminded of Queen Arianna’s continued insistence that Cass call her Arianna. “I— I can try— but it’s a hard habit to break. I’m not— I  _ wasn’t  _ royalty, to have that right.”

“I understand, but please try.”

“As you wish, Yo— E-Edmund.” It was hard to force the word out without a title preceding it, but Edmund smiled wide enough it had to hurt.

“Until this evening then, my child.”

_ My child—  _ Cass hid her flinch in a stiff bow. Though she knew he only meant it as an endearment, it still cut. Her dad would always be her father, not some half-mad king she barely knew. She hurried away before he could say anything else, retreating to the sanctuary of her room. 

Her room wasn’t meant for royalty either, barely a step above servants quarters and only hers by dint of her dad’s previous station. But it had been hers so long, and Rapunzel had refused to let any touch it in the years that she traveled, that it remained hers, a shelter against the storms of the world. She unlocked the armoire and settled the circlet inside among her weapons, various trinkets and things of sentimental value. She closed the door, hiding it from view. Out of sight, but she didn’t think it would ever be out of mind.

She threw open her small window and leaned out, whistling a series of ascending notes. Though it was mid-day, she heard a hoot in reply and leaned back to give Owl enough room to land on the sill. She offered her arm, and he stepped oh-so-carefully on it, reminding her that she wasn’t wearing her usual glove. But he was so careful with his talons that she didn’t feel the slightest scratch. Carefully, she pulled her arm in close to her chest, Owl sidling from wrist to forearm and turning around, so she could put his back against her chest. She worked her fingers delicately through his feathers, gently scratching at his keel bone and feeling him relax against her, his eyes half-lidded with pleasure and uttering soft noises of contentment.

She sat on the bed, still cradling him to her chest and smoothing his feathers between careful fingers, the closest she could manage to preening him like a fellow bird would do. He appreciated the effort, raising his crest and leaning into her touch. How long she sat like that, she couldn’t say. She just needed time to process. She had barely had time to herself to just sit and think since this whole thing had begun, from Rapunzel staying close at her side during Eugene’s perceived betrayal, to Rapunzel all but moving Cass into her and Eugene’s quarters after Hector’s assault, to being confined to the infirmary for weeks after her injury.

She thought she had found her desired destiny out there on the road, moving from adventure to adventure, being the hero she had always longed to be, helping people as her own self-imposed punishment for her crimes. And as Rapunzel had assured her, she always had a home here. Then when the King had knighted her, though she knew it was a peace offering— she started to think she was within a breath of finding that measure of happiness that had eluded her so long. She was home, with the people she loved most in the world all around her, and she could almost  _ taste _ it, the elusive joy of knowing who and what she was meant to be.

And then Edmund had arrived, and it had all shattered into razor-edged shards around her. She was adrift once more, and being pulled in too many directions. Her throat hurt from holding back a sob of frustration. For a moment she wished she had wings like Owl, to fly away from everything, destinies and thrones, knighthood and brothers— 

But she couldn’t. She had too many ties holding her. Not unwanted ties, but still bonds that felt painfully restrictive right now. She couldn’t even make herself move, feeling like a boulder was pinning her in place.

So she sat, with Owl a warm weight against her, silent and comforting and asking nothing of her. And if a few bitter tears dripped into his warm brown feathers, he did not protest, only nibbling affectionately on her fingertips.

~

Rapunzel insisted on joining them when Cass finally shook herself out of her melancholy and went to relay Edmund’s request to Eugene. She was firm enough in her determination that neither of them tried to dissuade her. Not that Cass really wanted to. She wasn’t sure what Edmund had in store and frankly, she was still feeling off-balance. Maybe Rapunzel sensed it— or maybe she was just trying to keep the fragile peace between them.

So after the evening court, they went down to the library. Eugene with Rapunzel on his arm and Cass trailing behind like a shadow, at least until Eugene reached back and yanked her forward a few paces to walk beside them. “Knight or not, you’re still a princess, Dragon Lady, so you walk with us, not trailing behind like a guard.”

“I am a guard, or had you forgotten, Fitzherbert? I’m her knight, which means I’m here to protect her.”

Rapunzel made a rude sound. “You’re my friend first, Cass, We’re safe enough in the castle. Besides, you know I can take care of myself.” She patted the sheath of the long dagger she was wearing.

“I’ve been meaning to ask about that. It’s not like you to have anything but your frying pan.”

“Eugene gave it to me the day you were hurt.” Rapunzel admitted. “I’ve been carrying it around since then.”

“Do you even know how to use it?” Cass raised an eyebrow. “A dagger’s a whole different weapon than a staff or frying pan.”

“Umm— sort of?”

“I gave her some pointers,” Eugene added.

“Probably not enough,” Cass frowned. “Clear some time in your schedule, Raps. Your husband and I are gonna teach you how to actually use that without hurting yourself, or worse, getting it taken away from you.”

“Me?” Eugene put his free hand on his chest.

“You gave it to her, Fitzherbert, you help teach her. Besides,” she pointedly put a hand over her abdomen. “I’ve been yelled at enough for trying to do too much while hurt.”

“Point.” Eugene conceded. “At least you listened.”

Cass frowned at him, but said no more as they reached the heavy oak doors of the royal library.

Edmund was waiting in an overstuffed chair, staring absently into the small fire on the grate. His mind seemed far away, so Eugene cleared his throat softly. “Dad? You wanted to see us?”

Edmund startled a little and looked up. “Yes, yes, I did. Come.” He gestured at a side table that held a wine bottle and several goblets. “Wine?”

“I have a feeling I’ll regret it, but no thanks. Wine doesn’t mix really well with the stuff the doctors are making me take.”

“How is your wound?” Edmund looked up with keen interest as Rapunzel poured glasses of wine for herself and Eugene. 

“Healing— and itchy,” Cass answered honestly. “Still tender, and bending is no fun, but I’ll live.”

“She’s gonna have one hell of a scar though.” Eugene added, accepting the wine from Rapunzel. “Suits her personality.”   
  
“Keep it up and I’ll be happy to give you one that suits yours.”   
  
“No such thing, Dragon Lady.”

“Do they always quibble like this?'' Edmund asked Rapunzel in an undertone.

“Daily,” she answered with a fond laugh.

Edmund shook his head and interrupted Cass’s description of carving Eugene’s face up, “Speaking of your injury, Cass— I have a gift for you.” He gestured toward the mantel above the fireplace at something under a red drape. 

Eyeing him warily, Cass reached up and pulled the fabric away to reveal a carved human skull with a dagger embedded in it. 

“The head of the man who orchestrated the attack on you.”

“Okay, that is all kinds of gross, Dad.” Eugene gagged and turned away from the grisly prize. “Cass, please cover that thing up. You can gawk at it later.”

Cass stared at the skull, a mix of emotions playing over her face. “Um, thank you... I think.”

Rapunzel looked like she couldn’t make up her mind whether or not she was appalled. She stared at the skull with a kind of morbid fascination.

Cass could understand, her eyes skipping over the delicate carvings. Branded on the forehead was one word in lettering she could only read because of her travels. “Oathbreaker.” she read aloud.

“Eh?” Eugene turned around, realized the skull was still on display and blanched, quickly turning away again. 

“The Order was sworn to protect the lineage of the Dark Throne, but somewhere along the line they developed an inflated opinion of their ability to judge the worthiness of the line.” Edmund said grimly. “He broke the oaths he had sworn in so doing. His life was forfeit for that.”

Cass gingerly picked up the skull with the drape, staring at the carvings. The one along the jaw fascinated and appalled her all at once, an interlocking chain of the Coronan sun symbol, crescent moons and the circular crest of the Dark kingdom, repeated over and over along the length of the bone. She traced it with a nail, feeling both sick and somehow— in some tiny part she didn’t want to look too closely at— pleased. She knew the meaning of the chain. Rapunzel was the sun, offering the light for the moon— Cassandra herself, the one time holder of the Moonstone— to reflect, to light the darkness of the Dark Kingdom. Eugene. 

Eugene had once described Rapunzel as his light and Cass knew that was the truth. Rapunzel was the light for both of them. She carefully wrapped the skull in the crimson drape and set it down on one of the tables. “You can look now, Eugene.”

He breathed a sigh of relief and turned around with an exaggerated shudder. “You two  _ really _ are way too bloodthirsty for me.”

Cass merely regarded him with a level stare. She turned to Edmund and gave him a brief bow of her head. “Thank you.”

He smiled at her, before gesturing at the comfortable chairs gathered around the fire, “Please sit. The rest of my gifts are less tangible, but as valuable— at least, I hope you will find them so.”

Eugene puffed his lips out in an exasperated sigh, but sank down in one of the chairs. “I gotta say, if a human skull is the height of your idea of gifting, I’d be terrified, but—” He rested a hand over his heart. “Your gift to me— that’s— I couldn’t have asked for more.”

Rapunzel sat on the arm of his chair and wrapped her arms around Eugene’s neck, pressing kisses on his temple and cheek and the corner of his mouth. He slid his arm around her waist and pulled her all the way into his lap. She settled into his embrace with a contented sigh.

Sighing, Cass sat in one of the other chairs, shifting until she found a position that didn’t bother the wound that was already aching from a long first day back on her feet. 

Edmund reached into the haversack that sat at his feet and pulled out two of the woodbacked portraits that were common gifts between members of royalty when they were betrothed. He held them out to Eugene, who was nearest. Rapunzel took them, stared at them with wide eyes and then passed one to Eugene and the other to Cass.

Cass stared down into the laughing brown eyes of the woman in the painting. She’d seen her before and it took a moment to place where. A painting in the half-destroyed hall of Edmund’s castle, this woman seated primly in front of Edmund.

“This is Melisande, my wife and your—”

“Mother...” Eugene finished breathlessly, staring down at his portrait. Cass leaned over to get a better look. It was the same woman, only younger, and seated in a pose that had to have been forced on her by the painter, too stiff by far.

Cass looked down into the painted eyes again and felt a knot in her stomach. She had grown up without a mother— a loving father,  _ yes— _ but no mother she could recall. And then, that night in the House of Yesterday’s Tomorrows, finding out that her mother was Gothel, who had abandoned her for the magic in the infant Princess. She had only remembered bits and pieces of her life before the night her dad had brought a traumatized, terrified child back to the castle. But the realization that she had had a real mother, one whom Gothel had callously stolen her from was something she hadn’t considered in all the tumult of finding out that she was a princess of the dark kingdom and sister to Eugene.

“I had thought perhaps you would both like to know about her.” 

Eugene looked over at Cass and her hands gone white-knuckled around the portrait. “Yeah, Dad— I think we both would.”

Edmund leaned back in his seat and swirled the wine in his goblet meditatively. “I was seventeen when my mother announced that I was to be betrothed. It was my duty to the kingdom, and I understood that. As long as my soon-to-be wife did not stop me from the things I loved, I cared not. We exchanged the usual gifts—” he indicated the portrait Eugene held with his goblet. “And went on with our lives until the time came for her to come to the Dark Kingdom.” He smiled. It was full of melancholy, but also joy. “I waited on the steps of the castle with mother to greet her and her entourage when they were spotted a few miles away. I expected her to be a meek little proper princess, riding in the carriage in the middle of the caravan. Imagine my surprise when ahead of the group, riding the largest, wildest black stallion I had ever seen, she was outracing the guards trying to keep up with her.

“I can still remember her laughter on the wind as she rode. She was beautiful and nothing like I expected her to be.” Edmund chuckled a little. “I admit, I tried to be the brooding, intimidating warrior I was training to be when she finally reined up at the steps. She saw right through it and was not impressed.” He glanced at Cassandra. “You remind me of her in that regard, child. She had a way of cutting through everything that stood in her way. And your wit is so very like hers, sometimes I hear her when you speak.”

Cass blinked at him, hand relaxing on the portrait. “She sounds—” her words failed her.

“She was.” Edmund seemed to understand what she had tried to say. “She had a love of life as wide as the sky, and was nothing like the retiring, subdued princess I was expecting. I was besotted, but she was immune to my every attempt to impress her.”

He chortled. “And I tried them all. From mighty hunts to offer her the hides of the most exotic beasts— she insisted she would rather have seen them alive— to grand romantic gestures— nothing I tried made the least impression on her.”

Eugene chuckled, resting his cheek on the top of Rapunzel’s head. “How did you finally succeed? Sounds like she was too much for you.”

Edmund barked a laugh. “I would have agreed with you, son. Finally, in frustration, I left her behind to go with Hector, Adira and Quirin to round up some of the wild horses that used to run the grasslands of the kingdom— in its better days. We had a horsemaster who could train them into beasts worthy to sell. She followed us, claiming she did not trust us not to injure the beasts in the capture, no matter how we tried to dissuade her.” He chuckled. “In that, she would not be swayed.”

He took a drink of his wine, eyes distant. “She rode as well as any of us, and in thinking that she would only watch us round up the beasts, we were mistaken. Adira went ahead to scout where the herd was while Hector, Quirin and I set up a place to corral them in a box canyon. Melisande rode after Adira, even after we insisted she did not. After all, she did not know the Dark Kingdom as we did and could easily be lost. Imagine my surprise when I rode out after Adira, only to see the herd flying toward me, Adira and Melisande whooping at their heels. I joined the herding effort, for what else _could_ I do?” He chuckled. “I don’t know who was more surprised, Hector and Quirin or the horses when we came thundering down the draw right into them. We managed to corral most of them neatly, though, as always, a few escaped, either through sheer luck or cleverness.

“It was as neat a hunt as any, and we had netted a large enough herd to bring in quite a bit of money. But it was close to evening, and there was no way we could herd them back home in the dark. Clever beasts that they were, they would have easily slipped away from us in the night. So we set a camp at the mouth of the valley. Hector went out to hunt up some dinner while the rest of us hunted firewood and set up. Melisande had even come prepared with a bedroll tied to her cantle. I could not help but be further impressed by her,” Edmund’s smile was loving as he stared into the past he was sharing. 

“As the night fell, the horses mostly settled. But I heard the high, panicked calls of a foal in distress. Taking a torch, I ventured into the makeshift corral, moving carefully among the beasts, who could take a notion to kick or strike out. Finally, at the far end of the canyon, I found the foal, who had fallen into the steep-sided stream there and could not climb out and was too frightened to follow the stream to where the banks were shallower. She was a slippery little beast, made slipperier by the mud she was liberally coated in, but I finally got a rope on her and gently coaxed her down the stream to a place in the bank where I could help her scramble out. And there it was— covered in mud and bramble scratches and with at least one good nip the little imp had gotten in— that I looked up to find Melisande had followed me.

“I must have looked a sight, but she only helped me get the filly up the bank, and for the first time, she smiled kindly at me. We set the foal loose among the others, but she continued crying out. It was then we realized that her dam must have been one of the ones to escape, but her foal was not strong enough to follow. She was too young to eat grass and to set her loose in the grassland in the night would be a death sentence. That was when Melisande showed me that she knew magic, bewitching a mare with a foal into feeding our little foundling too.”

Rapunzel cooed softly. “Aww— is that when she fell for you?”

Edmund chuckled. “Perhaps when she started to, but I was not entirely in her good graces yet. But at least she would talk to me more easily.” He paused to pour himself more wine, offering the bottle to Rapunzel and Eugene. Rapunzel had barely touched hers but Eugene refilled his glass. “That night in the canyon, I had referred to the foal as my trouble, and she proved it in the journey back— curious as two cats and just as likely to get into trouble— and so Trouble she became, and I trained her for my own. Melisande helped me, for she was the one who had tamed and trained that massive Black Beast of hers— after her own father failed to and was going to have him put down. She named him that, to mock her father’s inability to get anywhere near the horse that was as gentle as a kitten with her. But as we worked together, she softened toward me, and the night we had finally gotten Trouble to accept saddle and bridle, she kissed me for the first time, out there in the barn.”

Rapunzel was delighted, while Eugene stared thoughtfully down at the portrait in his hand, expression bemused.

Edmund glanced at Cass, who was watching the flames in the grate with an abstracted look. When he cleared his throat, she started a little and looked up at him with a wry smile. “I think I would have liked her. Dad— he let me help in training Fidella, and I loved training and working with her.”   
  
Eugene didn’t miss the brief scowl that flitted across his father’s face, so hurried to ask, “Was she like that after you got married? I mean, Sunshine here hasn’t changed a bit since ours.”

Rapunzel dimpled at him. “You told me not to change and I don’t intend to.” She leaned in to kiss the tip of his nose.

“Much the same,” Distracted from his glower, Edmund replied. “She had the patience for court that I did not, but afterwards, she and I would escape to go riding. She would laugh and race as fast as Beast could run, saying she needed the wind in her hair to blow the stale demands of nobles with more hair than wit off of her.”

Rapunzel sighed. “Maybe we should try that sometimes,” she said, glancing at Cass and Eugene. “The riding, I mean. Sometimes, I— I feel bad to say it, but— I get so tired of listening to petty squabbles. It would be nice to just feel the wind to clear my head.”

“Don’t blame you, Sunshine.” Eugene added. “I mean, I’ve seen some of the stuff they come asking you any your parents— it’s pretty stupid and petty.”

“No lie there,” Cass added. “I don’t have even a tenth of your patience, Raps.” Her face suddenly fell and paled.

“What is it?” Eugene asked, worried. Cass was still recovering, and seeing her pale brought back finding her bleeding in the gardens weeks ago.

Her gray eyes snapped up to meet his. “You realize, now we’re gonna have to deal with that kinda thing?”

“Huh?”

“Sitting in court, listening to petty problems from pettier people.”

Eugene groaned. “Dad, is it too late to give the circlet back?”   
  
Rapunzel giggled, tapping his nose with a fingertip. “Welcome to the joys of being royalty. Maybe we should all go on those rides together.”   
  
“It might keep me from killing some of them,” Cass muttered. covering her face with a hand.

"You mean all of them, Princess Murderpants."

Cass opened her mouth to retort but noticed the look on Eugene’s face as he snapped his mouth shut. He had gone pale and rigid, his eyes haunted.

Wincing at the motion, but when needs must, she leaned over as far as she could, dropping her voice to an undertone.  _ “Mad dog.” _

Eugene sucked in a sudden startled breath and glanced at her, tension seeping out of his frame. “Hesitation costs too much.” He replied in the same tone, and sank back into the chair, holding Rapunzel tight against him.

Rapunzel let Eugene hold her though his grip was just this side of uncomfortable, glancing between her husband and best friend. “Was I supposed to understand any of that?” She asked quietly.

Eugene buried his face in her hair. “I’ll tell you later, sweetheart.” He lifted his head and fixed a smile on his face. “So, getting back to the point—” He glanced at Cass. “You were telling us about our mom?”

_ Our mom—  _ The words touched on something deep inside her. She had always had her dad— even after her stint of crazy with the Moonstone, but now she had more family. It was strange— but not unwelcome, she found.

Edmund spun tales of Melisande and their life until well after the midnight hour. He showed them journals ranging from the first year they had been married up until the year she had gotten ill while carrying them. He had said sadly that her hands had often been too shaky to write more during her long decline, but she had been looking forward to their birth with that indomitable joy that had captured him. “I would come in to find her singing to her belly or describing the wonders that you would see when you were born.” But he stopped just short of the ill-fated night when she had gone into labor, his eyes full of grief, and admitted that he barely remembered much of the first month after she was gone. 

It was her death that had driven him to try to destroy the moonstone, he said solemnly. “But that part of the story you already know—”

Cass, embarrassingly, needed help out of the chair when Rapunzel had admitted that they had duties to attend to in the morning. Her muscles, unused to so much activity after her enforced bedrest, had stiffened and her wound was reminding her that she had gone hours past the time she had usually taken another dose of her medication. Eugene pulled her to her feet and steadied her until she could find her feet again. “You sure you’re up to standing duty, Cass? I mean—” he began worriedly.

“I won’t ever be if I don’t get back to it. At least you got put back on duty last week, so you can quit hovering finally.”

“Cass—” Rapunzel scolded. “You can’t blame him for being worried.”

“C’mon, Sunshine, let’s get Princess Pissy off to bed. You can make sure she takes her dose though, she might try to bite me.” Eugene locked her arm through one of his, grinning smugly down at her when Rapunzel took her other side without a word.

“I don’t need—” she protested as they bade goodnight to Edmund, but neither of them were listening, steering her toward the door.

She dug in her heels. “Wait. At least— at least let me get something.”

“What?” Eugene asked. “You didn’t even have a glass of wine.”

She glanced at the bundle of crimson fabric on one of the tables.

Eugene looked appalled. Glancing up to make sure his dad was out of earshot, he leaned down and murmured, “You actually want that— that—”

“Think how it’ll look to King Edmund if I leave it here,” she retorted. “Just let me grab the damned thing before you go hauling me around like an unruly horse.”

He shuddered, but let her go. “You are more a nightmare than an actual horse, Dragon Lady. Fine, go get your— ugh, gift. But then Sunshine and I are making sure you go to bed.”

“Think you're going to find me wandering the halls the rest of the night?”

“No, but I’m not going to find you on the training field either. Bed.”

Wobbling slightly, she fetched the fabric-wrapped skull and only offered him a mild scowl when he fell in at her side again.

After she had been escorted back to her room and Rapunzel had made sure she had taken her medication and didn’t need anything else, they left her. She set the skull on the desk, too tired to unlock the armoire and add it to the collection there. She fell backwards on the pillows (too many, but it was hard to sleep laying flat with the wound in her belly) and stared blankly at it, lit by a shaft of moonlight that struck sparks from the inlaid silver of the graven word.

Owl fluttered in the window on silent wings and landed on the back of her chair, regarding the skull with a tilted head. He hooted softly, a questioning sound.   
  
“Edmund’s idea of a gift,” Cass told him softly. “The head of the man who led the Order that decided to kill me, Eugene and Rapunzel.”

Owl chirred softly, turning his head almost upside down. Then with a flip of his wings, he lofted over to perch on the round knob decorating the hilt of the dagger. Ruffling his feathers, he pulled one foot up and closed his lambent yellow eyes.   
  
“Tell me you are not going to sleep there, Owl,” she said disbelievingly.

Settling his wings closer to his back, he opened one eye and hooted disapprovingly at her. He didn’t move again, closing his eye.

“You’ve got to be kidding.”

He wasn’t.

~

There was a subtle tension in the air as they headed for Court the next morning. Even Rapunzel felt it. Cass had her hand on her sword hilt the entire walk, though she couldn’t say why. They reached the doors, alarmed to find what was a normally a subtle buzz of voices had escalated to a roar. There were no guards at the door.

Alarmed, Cass and Rapunzel exchanged a look, before Cass motioned Rapunzel behind her and pulled her blade before kicking the door open. The frightened babble washed over her and she pushed through the crowded couriers and petitioners, all trying to back away from something she could not see. One of the courier's elbows caught her in the gut and she hissed through her teeth but forced herself to ignore the red wash of pain.

At last she broke through— to find herself facing a tableaux that chilled her blood. Edmund faced her dad, an axe haft in one hand, the head of the axe lying on the marble. Cap held a sword braced across his body, vibrating with tension and fury. Edmund’s face was black with rage. Between them, Eugene stood, a hand raised to face both opponents, while the rest of the guards crowded around, unwilling to take on a king or their former Captain.

“Both of you need to calm the hell down!” Eugene was saying. He was pale and sweating but his eyes were steely.

“I will not!” Cap seethed. “I have taken all I am willing to take!”

Edmund snarled down at him. “Try it!”

“Don’t!” Eugene barked. “I am not above tossing both of you in the dungeons to cool the hell off!”

Cass pushed her way forward to join Eugene. “Dad? Yo— Edmund? What the hell?”

“I have taken the last I am willing to take from this pig— king or no!” Cap’s face was dangerously red and he almost instinctively moved to try and put himself between Cass and Edmund. 

“Dad, if you don’t—” Frustrated, Cass dodged his block. “Calm down and tell me what the hell happened!”

There was a clatter behind her and Cass whirled, bringing her sword up. Edmund had discarded the useless axe handle and drawn the short sword on his belt. “Put it down,” She barked. “Or I will second the Captain’s offer to toss you both in the dungeons!”

“Cass!” Cap sounded betrayed.

“Don’t even. You are the one who taught me duty and the rules of knighthood when I was little.” She lowered her blade a little and glanced back at him. “My duty is to the liege I am sworn to, and right now, I can call you both a threat to her. Don’t make me have to.”

“I think perhaps we all need to calm down.” There was an edge of chill in Arianna’s voice that cut through the tension like a knife. “Edmund, put the sword down. Cap, that goes for you too.”

Cap, after years of obeying the orders of his royals, lowered his blade. His face was hard and angry, and he never took his eyes off of Edmund, who was much slower in lowering his short sword. His face looked like a thunderstorm as he glared at Cap.

“Captain, disarm them.” Arianna said, rising from her throne and folding her arms. “Then escort them— politely— back to their rooms and make certain they stay there. I  _ will _ be speaking with both of you, and I expect you to be where I put you. And I expect a reasonable explanation for this disturbance in our court.” The chill in her voice had gone glacial. 

Eugene motioned to the guards that had come to try and help with the disturbance. “You two, escort King Edmund back to his suite. You are to remain there until I send a relief or the Queen releases you. Tell Pethers to report to me for reassignment. Morrey, you’ll also be reassigned.” The guard Edmund had come to court with swallowed but nodded. Eugene turned his attention back to his father. “Dad, I’ll need the sword, and your boot knife too. Morrey, you get the pieces of the axe.” 

Edmund glowered sourly, but didn’t object when Eugene reached out and took the short sword from his hand. He drew the boot knife and tossed it derisively at Cap’s feet. 

**_“Dad!”_** Eugene’s voice was like the crack of a whip. “That is _more than_ **enough** out of you!”

Cap had already surrendered his blade to Cassandra, and his paired belt daggers. He couldn’t look her in the eye, but at the clatter of the knife at his feet, he looked more than ready to scoop it up and try and finish the job he’d started when Hector had attacked Cass. Cass simply stepped in front of him and calmly used the toe of her boot to flip the blade in the air, catching it neatly. 

“King Edmund, I second Eugene,” She had followed Arianna’s lead, her voice cold and flat as the look in her storm-colored eyes. “That was entirely uncalled for.”

Edmund actually flinched a little, whether it was the tone or her calling him by his title again, she didn’t know or care. 

Eugene nodded to another pair of guards to escort Cap back to his quarters while Cass handed over the surrendered weapons to Morrey.

When the doors had closed behind them, Cass and Eugene both sagged at the same time. “That could have gone better,” Eugene muttered.

“At least it hadn’t come down to bloodshed.” Cass murmured as they escorted Rapunzel to her throne. “What happened?”

“Not sure, honestly. I didn’t even know Cap was here til the shouting started. Next thing I know, Dad’s taking a swing at Cap and then, Cap’s got his sword up and the head of the axe goes flying.”

“No idea what set them off?”

“Safe bet it was over you. The one and only time they weren’t at odds was when you were in the infirmary after—” he gestured at his stomach in illustration. “But now that you’re back on your feet, looks like the gloves are coming off.” He rolled a shoulder in a shrug as he handed Rapunzel down into her seat.

“Wonderful—” Cass sighed but took her place behind the throne, resting a hand on the hilt of her sword. She was beginning to feel like a toy being fought over by a pair of contentious toddlers. As odd as it was to think of her dad like that, his temper had been uncertain since— well, _ since. _ The confirmation of the mark had only worsened the tension between the two.

Frederic indicated that court was to resume after the interruption, but it was clear that everyone was unsettled. There were whispers among the couriers, and frightened silence from the petitioners. Finally one courier asked what had to be on the minds of most of them, “Sire, will this mean trouble with the Dark Kingdom— or dare I say it, war?”

Frederic glanced at Arianna and rose to his feet. “Calmly now. Let me assure you, there will be no war, or have you forgotten that my son-in-law is Heir to the throne of—” he glanced again at Arianna, “Our sister kingdom? And that his twin is my daughter’s Knight? In spite of— recent tensions, there is no war looming on the horizon.”

There were still unsettled murmurs. Arianna rose and rested her hand on Frederic’s arm. “For all the trappings, it is a— familial squabble. There is no need for concern.”

That... was something to call it, Cass mused. 

Once more platitudes from Frederic and Arianna had soothed the ruffled feathers and Frederic had things well in hand, Arianna quietly excused herself. It wasn’t hard to guess where she was going and Cass rather wished she could go with her and find out just what had happened to almost end in bloodshed.

~

Arianna sighed outside the doors and fanned her face with a hand. Willowbark tea first for the headache, she decided. Because knowing those two they were only going to make the throbbing in her temples even worse. Let them stew for a bit longer, she needed fortification if she was even going to begin to untangle this mess.

Two cups of heavily sweetened tea later, she decided she had put it off long enough. Sighing, she headed for the guest quarters. Time to brace the bear in his den, before he did something rash— and possibly unforgivable.

She could hear the sounds of angry muttering and things breaking before she had even reached the door. Oh, he was indeed in a temper. Probably best that she had chosen to speak with him first.

She nodded at one of the two new guards Eugene had assigned. “Announce me.”

He swallowed. “Yes, Your Majesty.” He rapped hard on the door, loud enough to be heard over the noise inside. “Queen Arianna to see you, King Edmund.”

The muttering stopped though there was the definite sound of something shattering.

After a long moment, Edmund’s voice called back. “I fear I am in no mood to talk, dear lady.”

She nodded at the guard, who opened the door for her. “And that is precisely why we must, Edmund.”

Edmund stood red-faced and breathing too harshly in the middle of a small circle of devastation. Books had been thrown and pages scattered like snowfall on the carpet. Several decorative vases had been shattered, bits of porcelain drifted at the base of the walls. Arianna raised an eyebrow. “Good thing those were ugly vases,” she said drolly.

The comment startled a laugh out of Edmund and some of the tension dissipated. “Forgive me for such a crass display of ill-temper.”

Arianna stepped carefully around some of the broken shards and settled herself into one of the chairs by the fireplace. “I think we can afford a few broken vases, but we cannot afford the deaths a feud might cause.” she paused a beat, seeing the rekindled fury in Edmund’s eyes, before continuing. “So I ask, how dare you hurt your son— and yes, your daughter, too— thusly?”

Edmund was struck dumb at the accusation, delivered as it was in Arianna’s coldest tone.

She tilted her head to look down her nose at him, even though he towered over her seated position. “I had thought you cared more for your son than to put him in such a position after he is only so recently recovered.”

One would have thought she put an arrow in him with how quickly he deflated. “I—”

“Hmm?” The arched eyebrow and the soft hum effectively killed the rest of his argument.

Finally he sank down into a chair opposite her, hand coming up to scrub down his face. “I didn't even think—”

“Yes, that appears to be a common failing among Kings, from what I've seen recently.” Arianna said mercilessly. “So now it is time to start thinking and stop reacting. What on earth brought that on? To the point of nearly initiating a blood feud in the throne room?”

Edmund looked away uncomfortably. “I— perhaps, I worded things a bit badly...”

“Edmund—” Arianna’s voice was exasperated. 

“You— you will think poorly of me, dear lady.”

Arianna’s snort was the farthest thing from dignified. “It’s a little hard to top my mood right now, with you attempting to stonewall me.”

“I— I may have in—” He paused and made a grumbling sound deep in his throat

“Insulted Cassandra’s father. Yes, I gathered.” Her stare was icy and Edmund shrank under its weight. “What did you say?”

“I— perhaps— might have implied—”

“Edmund, my patience grows shorter by the second.” Arianna’s nails dug into the arms of her chair.

“That his reason for adopting Cassandra was— a lack. Either of his ability to father a child— or—  _ ortoperformwithawoman.”  _ The last was said in a rush of breath. His face was red as he scrubbed at his jaw with his hand.

“Edmund, you didn’t!”

“I did,” he returned, embarrassment painting his features. “I was angry. I fear I see her easy affection with him and... I admit I am jealous of the relationship he has with her, knowing there might never be that kind of ease between us. I have seen the wariness in her eyes when she is around me.”

Arianna sighed and rubbed her temples. “And what happened to bring steel into play?”

Edmund’s face darkened again, but his rage was damped this time. “He cast aspersions on my ability to be a parent. I had no choice but to send my son away! I would have sent Cassandra away too, had she been there. I could not risk him in a kingdom of ruin and decay, not after what the moonstone did to my Queen, and to me—” He lifted the stump of his arm. “I had sent him off to relatives, but that traitor of a nursemaid abandoned him.” He sighed. “I was angry and his words, well they fanned that anger. I was not thinking—”

“We’ve already established that.”

“Your barbs hit home, milady.” Edmund sighed. “As did his. I have been a poor father to my children, but I had been trying to do better.” His hand went to the purple crystal pendant he wore around his throat. “My son— his gift— the joy it brought to his eyes was worth everything it took to work it out. Cassandra— was— at least not entirely displeased by her gift—”

“I’m not asking.”

“We spoke and talked of my Melisande, and for a fleeting moment, they were happy to share that with me. I felt like I might have some place in their lives. And then I saw him and I remembered I will never be that to her. It stings, dear lady, to know my daughter thinks me a daft old madman.”

“It does you no favors to act the part and prove her right.” Arianna’s tone was merciless. “What you do reflects how she sees you.”

“And right now she sees me as the lunatic, I am well aware.”   
  
“You insulted and attacked her father—” she held up a hand. “Don’t even start that tired old line. He is her father, who raised her, and loves her more than life. You attacked him in open court, in front of the rulers of the kingdom she has spent most of her life in, whose daughter she is sworn to, by bonds of far more than loyalty. If I may be frank— that was a damnfool move.”

Edmund sank into his chair like he was hoping for the cushions to eat him. “I do not deny what we both know is truth.”

“If you cannot find some common ground with her, she will have nothing to do with you. You might start with her father. He’s not likely to give her over easily... if at all, now. And his opinion is one she puts great stock in. It was what drove her to become what she is today.”

“I do not know if that is possible, to find something in common with him.”

“Edmund, I know you are not an idiot. You already have the most important thing in common. You both love her. You also both want her happy, and that is no small thing to build trust upon. It’s a place to start, at the very least.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone for the kind words. They helped a lot. 
> 
> Next Chapter: The fallout of the duel. Eugene plots. Cass tries her hands at politics. Someone gets the noose.


	17. Policing and Politics

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am dreadfully sorry for the delay in getting this chapter up. Real life and a struggle with an upcoming chapter had me tied up in knots. But we are getting there, folks. I am very excited with the directions this story will be moving in the future (all thanks to Phantom and her wonderful ideas) and I really hope you will be too. 
> 
> As always, comments and criticism are welcomed.

Arianna left Edmund’s guest suite and paused to rest her aching head against the cool glass of one of the windows before going to confront the other culprit in this fiasco. She needed another cup of willowbark tea, or barring that, a long vacation far, far away from everyone. Right now, a cabin somewhere in the mountains sounded lovely. Somewhere she could be quite alone. Sighing, she pushed away daydreams of blissful isolation and headed for Cap’s quarters.

The two guards on the door looked decidedly nervous to be guarding their former captain. There was a lot of loyalty and family feeling among the guard and it made things hard on everyone. She smiled reassuringly before heading inside.

Cap was seated at his desk and looked up when she entered. He immediately rose to his feet and bowed. “My apologies, Your Majesty, for the incident in court. I swore that I would keep from doing anything to risk the balance, and I allowed crass words to inflame my temper. For that you have my deepest apologies.”

“At least you have the thought to do that.” Her anger faded a little in the face of his honest contrition, but she was by no means ready to let it go entirely. “If not the wisdom to not draw live steel in the throne room.”

He flinched.

Arianna dropped into the comfortable chair by the fireplace. “I was under the impression you were avoiding court to also avoid encountering King Edmund?”

Oh, that was a much deeper flinch. He sank into the chair opposite her, elbows on his knees and head hung low.

“Well?” she prompted.

“It— perhaps I am an overprotective fool, but it is Cassandra’s first day truly back on duty and all I could think of was what happened the last time she was. That self-sacrificing streak of hers has only grown— since she returned and has become even closer with the princess and— and her brother.” He shook his head and his shoulders slumped even more. “I should have stayed away— but I could not make myself.”

“And confronting Edmund?”

“Honestly— I had no thought for him, Majesty. I was only concerned with Cassandra. I only noticed him when he was beside me—” His teeth gritted and the face he brought up to meet her eyes brimmed with suppressed fury. “I’ll apologize for my actions as they distressed you and the court, but I’ll not apologize for my anger. I’ll stand for much, but I’ll not stand for his insults when he—”

“Cap—” Arianna interjected in a low voice and he started.

“It wasn’t enough that he insulted me, Majesty, but the insinuation that he could have cared for her better— cared for her  _ more— _ I lost my composure.”

“A fair bit more than lost your composure,” Arianna chided. “I do understand your need to defend your relationship with her, I just do wish steel and insults had not been the way to go about it.” 

A faint hint of red crossed the bridge of his nose. “I take it you heard about my response.”

“Only that you cast aspersions on his ability to be a parent.”

“What a polite way to put it.” 

“What then?”

“I reminded him again that she is my daughter, regardless of blood. Perhaps she was not born to me, but that makes her no less my child. What would he know of children, not having been bothered to even see his own cared for, only discarded like rubbish? I was perhaps a bit harsh, knowing he was evacuating the kingdom, but still the thought that he could have simply tossed her aside like his own son— well, it rankled. I— perhaps in the beginning, I did not like Fitzherbert, but I was angry on his behalf as well as my daughter’s— and yes, my own.”

“At least you admit that.” Arianna sighed and rubbed her temples. “What am I going to do with you? Already some of the courtiers whisper uneasily of war between our kingdoms.” She cast him a piercing glare. “What with you nearly calling a blood feud in court.”

Cap’s head went down again. “Again, I can only beg your forgiveness for my lack of—”

“We’ll call it composure. The other words I could call it are less kind.”

His shoulders hunched up around his ears. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

~

Eugene caught her on her way back to the infirmary to get something for her headache. “Yo— Arianna?”

She managed a weary smile for him. “Yes?”

“Do you have orders for me— um, regarding those two? Do I leave them under guard?” His look was a little nervous and she felt for him, caught in the middle of this once more.

“They are free to go, but you are to confiscate all weapons. At this point, they’ll be lucky to be allowed an eating knife. Assign a regular rotation to Edmund, as you would any visiting dignitary. Cap— it would behoove you to find something to occupy his time. They are thoroughly chastised for now, and one would hope it will stick, but—” She rubbed her forehead again.

“I am sorry, Y— Arianna.” He hung his head. “I—”

She put a finger to his lips. “For what? It is no failing of yours, dearheart, that two grown men cannot see past the end of their nose to what they are doing to their own families.”

“I couldn’t stop them before it came—”

“Again, you cannot be everywhere at once. The rancor has been there, yes, but until recently, they were wise enough to keep it to themselves until it exploded. Unfortunate that it happened in court but I fear the emotions were due to boil over.” She sighed. “When you go back to the throne room would you be a dear and carry my apologies to my husband and Rapunzel? I am going to take something for this headache and go lie down somewhere quiet for a while.”

He bowed and kissed the back of her hand. “Of course.”

She found another smile for him and touched his cheek gently. “Do not let this get to you again, love. I could not bear to see you taken ill again.”

“I won’t, Y— Arianna.”

She giggled tiredly. “One of these days, you’ll break the habit.”

“Eventually.” Eugene watched her go, pensive. He knew how much of this had fallen on her shoulders. He ached for the burdens being forced on her— by his family. There had to be something he could do to ease the weight on her. He’d have to see what he could scheme up.

It took most of the rest of the afternoon to come up with a semi-workable plan that only had a partial chance of blowing up in his face. It was the best he could do, though. He hoped he could pull it off. For everyone’s sake.

He was trying his best to not let the doubts creep back in, those niggling thoughts that said he could ruin this— ruin everything. They had been a lot louder since— he clenched his hands to keep them from shaking, memory supplying the feel of bone crunching under his fingers. He shook the thought away and went to go talk to his dad.

He'd put off seeing to Arianna's orders long enough, anyway.

He found him in a chair by the fireplace of his suite, not precisely sulking, but very, very deep in thought, staring into the small fire on the grate. “So, by order of Queen Arianna, I’m not putting you under house arrest— or the dungeons. However, by her orders, I am confiscating any weapons until such time as you return to the Dark Kingdom. You have the freedom of the castle and the city as long as both of the guards assigned to you are with you. Are these terms agreeable?” He was a little surprised that his voice remained as strong and steady as it did.

Without looking away from the fire, Edmund nodded. “The terms are acceptable. Your queen is as ever, far too gracious.”

Eugene felt a surprising sting at how Edmund had distanced himself in just that one statement.  _ Your Queen—  _ Like there were no ties between them. He’d once braced himself for Edmund hating him, when he had confronted him about Hector’s assault on Cass, but this hurt worse than that thought had. Like— he frantically quashed the thought.

Shaking himself out of the stunned silence, he gestured at the two guards who had accompanied him to search the suite for any weapons that had not already been confiscated. He stepped closer to the chair. “Dad?”

Edmund’s eyes were tired and sad when he finally looked up. “Son— I fear I have ruined things yet again.”

Eugene felt some of the tension leave him. “Not ruined, but well, you made a bit of a mess of it, to be honest.”

“I suppose I did. Do you think you— and your sister— can ever forgive me?”

That was as good an opening as he was ever going to get. “Possibly. Look, I have a lot of duties to attend to today— More now than I had this morning, to make a long story short, but do you think you can meet me— let’s see, down on Lantern Row, there’s a pub called the Painted Pony. You can’t miss it, just look for the sign, I promise, you’ll know it when you see it— meet me there this evening. I should be able to make it before dinner. We can talk about things then. What you did, and what you can do to make up for it. We’ll leave Cass out of it until we have a plan worked out.”

Relief brightened Edmund’s expression. “Yes. I’ll meet you there.”

He left the suite with a sense of— not relief— but a lessening of the tension that filled him.

After a stop at the armory to deposit the weapons they had taken from Edmund (and really had he needed to pack  _ that _ many?) he motioned the guards to follow him down to Cap’s quarters.

He was only halfway there when Cass intercepted him, her face worried and one arm curved almost instinctively over her stomach. With all that had happened he could tell it was bothering her, no doubt due to the stress. “Eugene?”

“You tear that open again and I’m not carting you back to the infirmary, Dragon Lady.” He poked, knowing the familiar sound of his teasing would ease some of the tension that was causing her pain.

She snorted a laugh, but he could see the tension seeping out of her posture. “What’s the word, Captain?”

He had told her once that her new rank was equivalent to his. In the interests of protecting the princess, if she gave an order to the guard, she was to be obeyed and all the guard knew it. It wasn’t quite the same rank-wise, being that she had no men directly answerable to her, but it made them the next best thing to equals in rank. So he answered her in that capacity. “The Queen is releasing them on their own recognizance, provided they are to be unarmed. Edmund is to have his guards with him at all times outside of his guest suite and I have been advised to find something to occupy Cap’s time. I’m about to go make sure he is unarmed and let him know he’s free to leave his quarters, provided he stays well away from Edmund.”

She glanced at the two men behind him and made an amused sound. “This is my dad we’re talking about. You might need more than these two to make sure he’s unarmed completely. Might want to borrow a laundry cart. Oh and change the locks on the armory while you’re at it.”

Eugene found something that was half a sigh and half a laugh escaping him. “You have a point, Princess Prickles.”

“Watch it, Fitzherbert.” Cass retorted, relaxing her stance. ‘You’ll need to find quite a few ways to keep him busy, he doesn’t like to be idle. That’s where I got it from.”

“Yeah, I coulda guessed that. Queen Arianna already dressed him down over it, I’m gonna talk to him later and see if there’s some way to make the two of them let go of this stupid grudge. I— I don’t know if it'll do any good and the whole thing might just blow up in my face, but—” He flashed her that smile again, that one that didn’t reach his eyes, and seemed like a fragile facade over something else. It seemed brittle and she felt a bit of uneasiness curl in her stomach. His eyes— they were— worried and sad-looking over that surprisingly flimsy grin.

But before she could comment on it, he flipped her a casual salute and headed off toward her dad’s quarters. She filed the uneasy feeling away to examine later.

Eugene sighed as they left Cass behind. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust her, but he didn’t want her interference in this— not when she was the bone of contention between the two men.

He’d have to apologize to her later— provided, of course, that this didn’t go spectacularly pear-shaped. For now though—

He tapped and opened the door to Cap’s quarters. Cap was seated by the desk but looked up, grim-faced, as he entered. “So, by orders of the Queen, you’re not under house arrest— or occupying the dungeons. However, on her orders, I am confiscating any weapons until such time as she decrees— probably after King Edmund leaves. You have the freedom of the castle— barring the armory and training fields. Also don’t let anyone catch you going to Xavier’s, please. Are these terms agreeable?”

Cap merely nodded, gesturing to the cabinets lining one wall of his room. “You might need more men.”

Eugene rolled his eyes. Should have known Cass would be right. “One of you go borrow a laundry cart from one of the maids, the other go see if you can scare up a couple of extra pairs of hands.”

When they had left the room, he turned his attention back to Cap, who was staring at his folded hands like they held some secret he needed to uncover. "Look, I know you heard it all from Queen Arianna, but— look, let's you and I talk this out over drinks. Deal?"

Cap finally looked up, his eyes pained. "What is there left to say? I made a mistake."

Eugene sighed. "Yeah, you did. I'm not denying that. But maybe, together, we can find a way to at least get you back in Cass's good graces. She's somewhere between furious at you and scared for you, y'know."

Cap sighed and scrubbed a hand through his hair. “I know.”

Eugene stuck his hand out. “So, drinks later tonight? We’ll see if we can figure something out.”

With another sigh and a wry twist of his lips, Cap accepted the outstretched hand and shook it.

Just then, the first guard returned with the laundry cart, and Eugene laughed, rolling his shoulders. “Well, let’s get to work. I’ll meet you here after I’m done with everything.”

Cap nodded slowly, watching as they stripped his cabinets of weaponry bare.

~

Eugene stretched aching shoulders and pressed a hand to the small of his back as he went up to the rooms he shared with his wife. Rapunzel had beat him there, already changed for dinner and writing something in her journal, her nose scrunched up in an adorable frown of concentration. He bent and pressed a kiss to the top of her head, and when she looked up, a second one over that little wrinkle. 

She smiled up at him, sweet and loving. “Eugene.”

“Hey, Sunshine. Think you can hold the fort for me at dinner? I have things I have to take care of.”

She pursed her lips, but nodded. “I can, but you have to promise you’ll get something to eat. I—”

“Don’t want me to get sick again, I know,” he offered with a grin. “I will, if only to have something in my stomach to absorb the booze.”

“Booze?” 

I’m hoping— only hoping, mind you— that if I can get Edmund and Cap to— I really don’t want to say settle their differences, because frankly, that might wind up with one of them dead— but find some compromise that stops them fighting over Cass like two dogs with a bone.” he sighed. “After that performance in court this morning, I’m not sure how, but...” He shrugged. “I have to hope those lessons in being diplomatic sank in.”

Rapunzel’s mouth pinched in a small frown. “There’s a lot that could go wrong.”

He sighed. “Trust me, I know. The only good thing is that neither of them are allowed weapons.”

“That’s not going to stop them if things go wrong. You know how dangerous Cap can be and well— you’ve fought your dad.”

Eugene instinctively rubbed the area around his eye, where a hit from a mind-controlled Edmund had felt like it cracked his cheekbone years ago. “I know but—” he shook his head. “I’ve paid off the barkeep, in case they do wind up brawling. I’m hoping it doesn’t get that far. Your mom put the fear of— well,  _ her—  _ into them. That might keep them on good behavior.”

“I know she’s what’s got them at odds, but I really wish you could take Cass with you. She could stop them without drawing a weapon.”

“I know she could. But I prefer to leave her out of this, at least until I’m sure it doesn’t blow up in my face. I couldn’t stand it if she got hurt.”

Rapunzel rose and went up on her toes to kiss his cheek. “You are such a good brother.”

A hint of red showed up on his cheeks. “That’s still weird to hear.”

“But you like it.”

“Kinda, yeah.” He kissed her gently. “Do me a favor, love, keep Cass occupied? I— this is risky enough.”

“I’ll do my best.” She promised.

Sighing, he took his leave of her and went to grab a quick bite and then collect Cap. The older man was leaning against the doorway of his quarters, waiting for him.

They walked into town in mostly silence. The brightly painted sign for the Painted Pony beckoned them on, decorated in Rapunzel’s unmistakable style. Old Harry, the owner, had asked her to repaint it after the incident with Black rocks.

Thankfully, Edmund hadn’t arrived yet and he and Cap were able to settle down in a mostly private corner. Cap stared down into his mug before taking a healthy swallow. Eugene drank more carefully. The mead was amazing here, but too much of it would not allow him to keep control of the situation. And he needed to.

Cap was staring at him with a pensive look on his face. “You look better.”

Eugene shrugged. “Helps knowing there aren’t assassins coming for your head anymore.”

“Point, but not what I meant. I wasn’t lying when I said you had worn yourself too thin.”

“Not arguing the point with you. As my wife likes to remind me, she’s not willing to see me like that again.” Eugene sighed. “I— it was a bad time. I— went places— did things I didn’t know I was capable of. Things that scare me in the cold light of day.”

“I saw,” Cap’s voice was solemn. "I'll be honest. I may have disliked you when you were just a thief. But I learned to respect you for how much you were willing to risk to protect the princess. And her people.” He met Eugene’s eyes. “And I appreciate how much you've come to care for my daughter. I told you that already. But honestly, lately— there is more of that same darkness in your eyes— and that concerns me."

"I'll be honest, I'm frightened of it myself." Eugene stared mournfully into his drink. Maybe this hadn’t been such a good idea. Cap understood too much, and it shook him. "You— well, you've seen my dad. There's— madness there." He shivered.

There was a wounded look in Eugene’s eyes, and Cap loathed to see it. And honestly, yes, Eugene had that same seed of rage that his own daughter had— the rage that had made her go rogue, when fed by the manipulative words of a centuries old demon. And it was clear that it was Edmund they had inherited that from— he’d seen it with his own eyes in foul insults and baiting, and heard of it too when told of Edmund murdering one of the assassins.

Even with his anger at the man, Cap wasn’t willing to foist it off on the son, who was— at least in this— mostly an innocent. 

“A lot of that is spending better than twenty years alone with only his regrets." Cap said thoughtfully. “I think, as long as you have that fear of what you could do, you'll be fine. Never let it overwhelm you. You have seen what happens when it does."

Eugene looked down at his own hands and swallowed hard.

“We are human, and fallible for that. We can and do lose control—” He gestured at his own chest in example. “But we can recover.”

Eugene huffed a breath that wasn’t quite a laugh. “Yeah— yeah. Thanks for that.”

Just then the door swung open and a hulking figure filled it.

“And I’m leaving.” Cap pushed himself to his feet.

Eugene rose and pushed him back down in his seat. “Sit down. You’re not going anywhere.” His tone brooked no argument.

“What is  _ he _ doing here?” Edmund seethed, reaching for a weapon he wasn’t wearing. 

**_“Dad!”_ ** Eugene barked. “I asked him, same as I asked you. We have to work this out if it kills one of us!”

Edmund glowered. “I do not—”

“Yes you do! Or do you want Queen Arianna to send you back home right now? Because that’s her next move if you can’t stop acting like children fighting over a toy!” 

Edmund froze in place.

“Cass is not a toy, or a possession,” Eugene continued. “She is her own person and if you keep acting like this, you’re both going to drive her away. Do either of you want that? No? Then sit down and stop acting like idiots!” He was panting a little by the time he finished, but it seemed to have worked. 

Cap was staring down into his mug, but did not move to leave again.

Edmund grumbled softly but dropped down onto the bench with a thud.

Eugene allowed himself a sigh and slumped back down in his own seat, waving at Harry to bring another mug of mead— and maybe leave the pitcher.

~

Cass didn’t like to think of Rapunzel in those terms, but she was being awfully  _ clingy,  _ for lack of a better word _. _ They had been down to the throne room only to find Frederic had cancelled the usual evening court session, and Rapunzel had stuck with Cass like a burr, even when she went down to the stables to check on Fidella. She wasn’t allowed to ride just yet but she liked to spend a little time with her horse, just them in the quiet, hay-scented air. She kept her fingers busy by plaiting braids in Fidella’s thick mane.

Rapunzel had grabbed a currycomb and was running it over Fidella’s already shining flanks. While she wasn’t afraid to get her hands dirty, she wasn’t usually so— 

Owl hooted a greeting from one of the rafters and drifted down to perch on the stall door, where Rapunzel immediately offered him a gentle scratch along his chest. He puffed up his feathers in pleasure and chirred softly at her.

“Where's Eugene?" Cass looked up at the princess, unable to take much more of this. "Don't you usually steal him for dinner about now?"

Rapunzel looked away, a sure sign she wasn't comfortable with whatever she was going to say. “He— he's taking care of a— a diplomatic thing tonight." She concentrated on petting Owl like it was the most important thing in the world.

“Diplomatic?" Cass snorted. "Pull the other one."

“I promise it's in the interest of peaceful negotiations." Rapunzel squeaked, her cheeks going pale, a sure sign she wasn’t telling the whole truth.

“Raps—” Cass sighed. Just that, but she knew it wouldn’t take long before Rapunzel broke. She really wasn’t any good at prevaricating. 

It took a whole two minutes for Rapunzel to heave a sigh. “He— he’s trying to get Edmund and Cap to stop fighting. He’s worried— about you— about them winding up killing each other—” she sighed again, knotting her fingers together. “Mom— she’s talked to them both, but they’re still ready to go for each other’s throats at the slightest excuse.”

Cass’s fingers tightened on the braid. “Because of me—” she said under her breath.

Rapunzel heard her anyway. “Cass— don’t say that.”

“It’s only the truth, Raps.” Cass tied off the braid and smoothed her hand down Fidella’s neck. The mare lipped affectionately at Cass’s hair.

“Truth or not, it’s not your fault that two grown men are acting like children.”

The blunt answer startled a laugh out of her. “They really kind of are.”

“Eugene’s trying to get them to talk, but well— I don’t know how well that’s going to go. They’re both stubborn.”

“You mean pig-headed idiots,” Cass retorted. “C’mon, Raps.”

“Wha—?”

“Let’s go save your husband from his good intentions. Do you know where he dragged them off to? Hope it’s not the Duckling, I’m not up to walking that far.”

“I’m pretty sure it’s in town. He and Cap walked.”

Cass mused. “That cuts it down to three places in easy walking distance. Calla Hann’s Bar down by the docks, the Tawdry Unicorn over by the main gate, or—”

“The Painted Pony!” Rapunzel burst out, bouncing on her toes. “I painted the sign for that one. I bet that’s where he took them.”

“Yeah, you can’t miss that sign. Even Edmund should have been able to find that place. Let’s go.”

“Are you sure? He’s trying to get them to talk.”

Cass let herself out of the stall, gently pushing on Fidella’s nose when the mare tried to follow her out. “You stay here, girl. I’m not allowed to ride just yet. When I can, though, we’ll go for a long ride, promise.”

Rapunzel followed her out. “Maybe Max and I can join you. I think we could all use a chance to get out.”

“You’re probably right. Don’t forget to bring Fitzherbert, he needs all the help he can get.”

Rapunzel grinned at her until she squirmed under the scrutiny.

“What?”

“It’s cute how you look after him now that he’s your brother.” Rapunzel’s laugh was the bright chime of bells, and she clapped her hands.

“Please don’t.” Cass shot her a sour look, only renewing the tinkling laughter from her friend.

~

Cap was well into his third mug, Edmund, his second, and the tension in the tavern was only rising. Eugene had hoped it would have been the opposite, but the stares the two men were exchanging over their mugs was making his mead sour in his mouth. So far, they had barely exchanged a word, mostly scowling and playing with their mugs.

“Would one of you please say something?” Eugene grumbled.

“I have nothing to say.” Cap said, staring down into his mug. “The Queen made it clear I was to avoid anything that could cause another incident like this morning— therefore I am avoiding  _ him.” _

Eugene took a long swig from his tankard and felt the alcohol tickling his brain. If this blew up, he was blaming it on that. “Okay, I'm going to be blunt here. Everyone at this table wants the same thing; what's best for Cass. She's— she’s family for all of us, one way or another. The problem is neither of you can agree on what actually  _ is _ best for her."

He turned to Cap. “You want to give her a sense of familiarity and stability, to help her regain her footing after what Zhan Tiri did to her." He switched to Edmund. "You want to give her everything she always should have had, and the grand destiny she craved so badly not too long ago.” Time to lay all the cards on the table, and hope his hand wasn’t a bust.

“Me, I'm smart enough to admit I don't know the best thing to do. But I do know the hostility between both of you is making things a lot worse on her. So if you really want to do what's best for your daughter, both of you get over yourselves and work it out." He slammed down the rest of his drink and marched out of the tavern.

The moment he was clear he collapsed against the outside wall, letting his poker face fall away. He'd rather face Zhan Tiri again than those two fighting. He sat, his back against the outer wall of the pub, and just tried to breathe. Maybe he shouldn’t have left them alone. Maybe he could have done more; said more— 

~

It might have been minutes or even an hour later when a rude shove in the side nearly toppled him over. He looked up into a long, white-furred muzzle. Max snorted wetly in his face.

“Is he drunk?”

Max looked back over his shoulder and nickered a negative. Rapunzel and Cass came up beside him.

Rapunzel immediately crouched beside him. “Eugene?”

He managed a brittle smile. “Hey, Sunshine. Dragon Lady.” He rolled his eyes at Rapunzel. “Couldn’t not tell her, huh?”

Rapunzel laughed sheepishly. “She’s very persuasive.”

He laughed. If it rang a little hollow, he didn’t think Rapunzel noticed. “Well, the place is still standing at least.” He used Max’s stirrup to pull himself to his feet. “Better go see what the damages are.”

“You left them alone together?” Cass asked.

“It was that or watch them glare holes in each other. They weren’t talking— so I may have wound up yelling at them.”

"Did it work?"

"No idea. But, your dad probably hates me again. Dad might hate me too."

"I doubt that." Cass folded her arms. She had cleared up the misunderstanding she'd had about Eugene outing her with her dad, so he'd known his successor hadn't betrayed her confidence, in spite of what she had thought at first. And her dad had seen for himself the lengths Eugene was willing to go for her, now that— now that she  _ really _ was his sister. Besides— “You're Edmund's entire world."

"Yeah, cause I was  _ all _ he had left of his family. That's not true anymore. Why would he care about me when he's got a really strong daughter who already knows way more about royal courts than I ever would?"

“Eugene—!” Rapunzel looked like she wanted to hug him, but she wavered, looking between him and Cass.

Cass pinched her nose. She was dealing with this Eugene again, and heavens knew it made her miss the arrogant asshole. "Yeah, super strong daughter who did the one thing you weren't supposed to do with the relic the family guarded, laid waste to the countryside— oh, and let's not forget, mind-controlled him. I'm sure he's thrilled."

"He is," Eugene said quietly. “You saw how much he wanted to try and make amends for what happened with Hector.”

Cass heaved a sigh. “You— are an idiot. Even I can tell how much the crazy loves you.” She grabbed his bicep. “Let’s go see if we can salvage this situation. Before someone loses their temper— and stop giving me that sad look or the one that loses their temper might be me. C’mon, Raps, time to beat a few heads together—”

“Cass!”

“Politically.” Cass amended.

“You wouldn’t know politically if it bit you, Sister Slither.”

Cass snorted at him. “Max, you’re coming too. If one of them won’t calm down, you have Rapunzel’s permission to  _ sit _ on them.”

“I didn't—”

“Would you rather they be trying to kill each other?”

“Right. Okay, Max. You can sit on them— just not too hard.”

Cass rolled her eyes and led the way back into the pub.

It was— surprisingly quiet.

In the corner where he had left them, Cap and Edmund still sat, hands white-knuckled around their mugs, but there was no bloodshed or sign of violence.

Cap opened his mouth as if to say something, think better of it, and snapped it shut, returning his gaze to his mug.

Edmund was staring at the table like it had personally offended him, mustache bristling over a deep frown.

Cass heaved a sigh, rolled her eyes and strolled over to the table, dropping casually down on a stool she stole from another table, deliberately choosing not to sit on the benches either of them occupied. She hid how much the movement pained her, propping her booted feet on the tabletop. "So are you two done acting like fools? 'Cause really, when Fitzherbert has to be the responsible one, you know you screwed things up."

Cap fixed her with a stern stare. "I am still your father, young lady."

Edmund harrumphed, and Cap subsided with a sideways glare.

"Then how about acting like it, dad?" Cass retorted. "Because when I have to second a call to have both of you locked up, that's not acting like it." She shot Edmund a steely glare before he could gloat. _ "Either of you."  _ She added.

Both men winced away from her scathing tone.

Cass glanced up at her companions. “I know you like to look decorative, Fitzherbert, but sit down, both of you.”

Rapunzel followed Cass’s lead, taking a chair from near the fireplace and putting it at the other end of the table. She pushed Eugene down in it and sat in his lap. Cass let the corner of her mouth quirk up approvingly. No taking sides.

She debated the wisdom of it for a moment before stealing the pitcher from the middle of the table and taking a drink straight from it. Her tolerances were all out of kilter because of the wound and her medications, but she needed a drink. Both to steady the nerves she refused to show, and because right now her gut hurt enough to make her want to stab something.

“Look as much as it pains me to say it— my  _ brother _ has the right of it. You two need to stop acting like I’m something worth causing an incident for—” She held a hand up. “Ah-ah. I’m not disparaging myself, either of you. What I am saying— is your  _ petty little squabble _ worth the trouble it’s going to cause? Because neither of you really want to make an enemy of Queen Arianna.”

Both men flinched, and Edmund actually looked thoughtful and concerned.

Cass sighed. “Right now, you are  _ both _ one step away from  _ really  _ getting in her bad graces. And that’s saying nothing about mine—” she cocked a thumb at Eugene. “Or his. Because, I’ll be brutally honest— I am furious with both of you. And I’m not even the one who has to clean up after your messes.” She tipped her head to indicate Eugene again. “Maybe he’s not pissed at you, but I am— for his sake. And do  **_not_ ** make Princess Rapunzel mad at you for what you’re doing to her husband. I promise you, my stint with the Moonstone will have seemed like a mild tantrum if your stupidity causes something to happen to him.”

Cap looked mildly disbelieving, while Edmund just blinked at her. 

Eugene spoke up for the first time since they had entered the pub. “Don’t believe her? Ask King Frederic.” He said nothing else, only leaning his head against Rapunzel’s shoulder where her arm was wrapped around his neck.

“I am trying—” Cass began. “— to keep this from evolving into something neither Kingdom will be able to recover from.” Her eyes darted sideways for a moment before she focused entirely on Cap. “You were here— you know what Corona went through after— after—” Her voice faltered and she clenched her fists. She refused to be this weak. “After the incident with the Moonstone and Zhan Tiri,” she finished, her voice empty of all emotion. “Every tin-pot dictator in sailing distance thought they could come  _ ‘offer help’ _ and try to make Corona beholden to them. Raps— Rapunzel and her parents had to dance verbal circles around them to keep them from taking offense and trying to drag this kingdom into a struggle they couldn’t afford.”

She wrenched her gaze away from her dad’s, not wanting to see whatever emotion might be in his eyes.

Edmund was watching her, his dark eyes unreadable. 

“The Dark Kingdom— you know better than I do what kind of state it was in when you ordered your people to evacuate. We passed through a lot of it on our way to the castle and we saw enough. Towns in ruins, empty of everything but shadows. Roads torn up by the Black Rocks, abandoned caravans where the roads were impassable. The— the rocks are gone now, but the destruction remains, and I’m guessing not too many people have returned, not without shelter or a way to feed themselves.” She spread her hands. “I know you’re working on restoring it, and I’m guessing the Castle is at least livable— but your kingdom is in no shape to fight a battle it can’t win.”

“And that’s what you’re making this into. You damn near declared a blood feud right there in court, in front of more than a dozen nobles and dignitaries that would have picked sides and pushed both kingdoms into a war that neither could win. And what prize will you find at the end? Because it won’t be me.” She turned her gaze to Rapunzel and Eugene, both watching her. The trust she read in both their eyes gave her the strength to go on. “I’m not a thing to be won. And I’ll be honest, if it weren’t for the vows I made when I was knighted, I’d have saddled up and ridden away, long before it got to this point.”

She dropped her feet back to the floor and rose, slapping a hand palm down on the table. “So, here goes— either you work this out between yourselves in a civil manner, or you drop the whole damn thing and behave like you don’t know each other. No insults, no slurs— you be complete strangers with no bones to pick.” She leaned in, voice dropping to a low growl. “Because, if you two continue this, I will be forced to decide that you are a threat to the princess I’ve sworn my life to. And you _do_ ** _not_** want that.”

Max, who had stood by quietly the entire time, reared and punctuated her threat with an ear-splitting whinney. 

Cass straightened back up, took another swallow from the pitcher, and waved Rapunzel and Eugene out ahead of her. Max came to her side and she rested a hand on his strong white shoulder, sauntering out beside him as if she hadn’t just threatened the man who raised her. 

She made it half a building away from the pub before her knees buckled and she had to cling to Max’s stirrup to stay on her feet. She looked up into Eugene and Rapunzel’s worried faces, and gave them a sickly smile. “Well, that went well, didn’t it?”

Without a word, Rapunzel came to her side and slipped Cass’s free arm over her shoulder, putting her arm around Cass’s waist, carefully. “I think it will work and that’s the important thing.”

Eugene came to her other side, carefully prying her white-knuckled grip free of the stirrup and mimicking Rapunzel’s pose on that side.

Cass looked at him sideways. “Now I see why you looked like all hells when we found you. That was—”

“Nerve-wracking,” he finished for her with a half-smile. “C’mon Princess Politics, let's get you back to the castle while you can still stand.”

She debated for a second before sticking her tongue out at him. “That’s worse than Queen Cobra.”

He chuckled. “But correct. That was some damned fine politicking back there.”

“Cass—” Rapunzel’s voice was unusually small. “If— if you want— when dad found the precedent for— for making you the Heir’s Knight, I took a look through the books too. It’s not commonly done, but—  _ butIcanreleaseyoufromyourvows.” _ The last was all said in a rush.

“Try that again while actually breathing, Raps.” 

“If you— if you actually want to leave— There’s a way I can release you from the vows you took. You can go back to being a wanderer if you want to.”

Cass came to an abrupt halt. “What?” She pulled herself free of their hold to stare at her friend. “Are you out of your mind?”

“I’d— I’d rather you be far away and happy, than miserable here— and all this is making you miserable, I can tell.” Full of turmoil, Rapunzel’s eyes had darkened from their normal leaf-green to near emerald. “I— making you my knight wasn’t meant to trap you. If escaping this whole situation is what it takes, I’ll set you free.”

“Hey—!” Cass brought her hands up to capture Rapunzel’s cheeks, forcing her to meet her eyes. “Stop that, Raps. You didn’t trap me. I’m not leaving you—” She quirked a small smile. “Or my idiot of a brother—”

“Excuse you?!”

“To deal with this mess. For better or worse, this is mine to deal with too. Even if it means yelling at my dad— and— and a king over and over again until they get it through their thick heads, well, I’m pretty good at yelling.”

“Not a lie.” Eugene put in with a snort.

“I’m not leaving. I’m here to stay. I vowed my sword and my life to you, remember? Not going anywhere. I don’t take those vows lightly, and even if you released me from them, I won’t release  _ me _ from them. We’ll face this together— unless you want me out of your hair so you don’t have to deal with any of this—?”

Rapunzel’s hands came up to grip hers tightly. “No! No, Cass— I let you go once before because it was what was best for you, but—” 

“That translates into don’t leave again,” Eugene put in, resting a gentle hand on Rapunzel’s shoulder.

“Thanks, but I learned how to interpret Rapunzel a long time ago.” Cass chided with a smile that softened the words, using Rapunzel’s grip on her hands to tug the princess into a hug. She wasn’t one to initiate hugs often, but it seemed to be something she needed to do.

Rapunzel’s arms slid around her waist and trembled with the effort to not squeeze as hard as she could— aware of the still healing wound in Cass’s belly. Cass huffed a laugh and adjusted Rapunzel’s grip until her arms were around her ribs, unsurprised when they creaked under the strength of Rapunzel’s hug.

When Rapunzel finally let go, her eyes were bright with tears, but ones of relief, not worry.

Cass smiled at her. “So— my legs still feel like jelly—”

“Oh!” Rapunzel slid back in against her side, supportive and smiling.

Cass sighed and extended her arm towards Eugene. “C’mon, don’t leave me hanging here.”

His laugh was a little weak, but it was real, and she’d take it over the mopey face he’d been showing on and off of late.

They made it back to the castle, in spite of Cass’s very real wobbliness. She wasn’t sure whether it was the alcohol, her medications, the fading of the adrenaline that had kept her going through the confrontation, relief, or some potent mixture of all of them that made her legs so shaky. She just really wanted to sit down.

She frowned at Rapunzel and Eugene when they turned toward the East tower without a word. “One— my room is the other way, and two— there is no way in the hells that I am up to climbing that many stairs once much less coming back down them again later.”

“Got that covered, Dragon Lady.” Eugene waved at a guard nearby. “Need a hand getting Cass to the Princess’s room.” He said.

“Yes, sir.” The guard nodded and linked his arm with Eugene’s. Cass knew the maneuver, though she had never used it herself, considering she was a lot slighter and quite a bit shorter than most of the men in the guard. She’d seen it used in training, though, as a way to get injured comrades out of the combat zone quickly. 

“You two are not carrying me like that.”

“Well, with that wound in your gut, I’m not throwing you over my shoulder or hoisting you up on my back, so deal with it, Cass.”

“I’m fine to go to my room, Fitzherbert.”

“Please, Cass.” Rapunzel pled. “None of us have really eaten yet and—”

“Don’t try to stand against her, Cass. You know you won’t win.” Eugene grinned at her. “So come on.”

“I’ll get you for this later, Fitzherbert.” Cass sighed, but sat on their linked arms, looping her arms over their shoulders as the two of them hoisted her off her feet. They carried her to the top smoothly, depositing her in front of the door to the rooms Rapunzel and Eugene shared. 

Eugene thanked the guard while Rapunzel sent a servant down to the kitchen for some dinner. Cass let herself be chivied into one of the comfortable wingback chairs. “Have you taken your dose for tonight?” Rapunzel asked when she was settled.

“No. I don’t like to take it without eating something unless I’m going straight to bed.” Cass sighed. “I suppose I should if you plan on me spending the night up here again.”

“Just tonight.” Rapunzel said, sitting down on the arm of the chair. “Is it silly of me to be relieved that you don’t want to leave again?”

“No,” Eugene put in, bending to kiss the crown of Rapunzel’s head. “It’s all the stress of— well, everything. You want to keep her close so she can’t vanish on you. You two wait for the food, I’ll run downstairs and get her medicine.”

Cass pressed her lips together. “There’s a sleep-shirt folded on my pillow, Might as well grab that too. But I’m taking the cot tonight.”

“I’m too tired to fight you for it.”

“Not like you could win anyway.”

He snorted at her before heading out.

Cass looked up at the princess seated on the arm of her chair. “You know I’m not leaving you again, right?”

“Give me a day or two to convince myself first.”

Cass huffed a breath. “Do I lie to you?”

“No—” A tap on the door interrupted Rapunzel. “Oh, that’s the food! I’ll be right back.”

Cass leaned back into the embrace of the chair as Rapunzel pattered away. For all she complained about it, it was nice to have friends— and family— that actively took it upon themself to look out for each other.

Eugene came back right as Rapunzel returned with the food, and they settled in the other chairs to eat. Cass dutifully took her dose at a look from Eugene, and they talked of inconsequentials, still too close to the issue with Cap and Edmund to bring it up. Cass could only hope that those two could find some way to get over themselves. Because, honestly, it was driving her— and Eugene— to distraction, and that did neither them nor their duties any good. She could understand Arianna’s frustration. 

“Hey, Raps?”

Looking up from where she was feeding Pascal, Rapunzel made an inquiring sound.

“How do you feel about working on that dagger training in the morning?” she asked. “You can learn how to poke holes in your husband’s hide as well as his ego.”

Rapunzel giggled while said husband gave Cass a very sour look.

“Early morning at the guard training field then. We’ll need time to change before morning court.” Cass said with a sideways grin. “Bring your dagger and your target.”

“Rude.” Eugene retorted.

~

Morning came too early. They had all been too stressed by the events of the previous day, and sleep had been long in coming, even for Cass, who usually fell asleep shortly after her medicine hit her. They had lain awake, quietly talking for a while before they had been able to relax enough to sleep.

Eugene complained all the way down to the training field, despite his steadying hand on Cass’s arm as she descended the stairs slowly. Rapunzel, who, no matter how late the night, rose with the sun, just rolled her eyes at his dramatics. They were crossing the dew-wet grass when Pete jogged from the castle, waving. “Captain!”

Eugene waved them on. “I’ll catch up after I see what’s up.”

“What if it’s important?” Rapunzel hesitated.

“I’ll be sure to tell you. Go on. Let Dragon Lady work off some of her frustration before she shows you how to poke me full of holes.”

He turned back and went to go see what Pete needed.

It took him longer to return than they thought it would, Cass already coaching Rapunzel through several stances. Cass spotted him and stepped back from where she was adjusting Rapunzel’s posture. “Oh. look, here’s our training dummy. Good, now we can get this started.”

Eugene made a face at her, slipped an arm around Rapunzel’s waist and brushed a kiss across her lips. “Sorry for the delay, Sunshine. Just a little something I have to do later, no worries.”

Cass hesitated. Something rang false in his tone, but in the next moment he had taken over correcting Rapunzel’s stance before taking a place opposite her on the packed dirt of the training ring. He picked up a small, round shield and a thick leather bracer that he buckled around the wrist of the arm that wasn’t holding the shield. “Okay, sweetheart, just like I showed you that night.”

Rapunzel looked doubtfully at her dagger. “Um, shouldn’t I be using a training blade first? You know, wooden— so I don’t actually hurt you?”

Eugene shook his head. “You need to feel the real weight and heft of the blade. It would take more time to work up from a dummy blade.”

Cass eyed him askance. She had only been showing her the stances, intending to set her against actual training dummies first, before graduating her to live opponents— with practice blades. Eugene was acting like he expected her to have to use these lessons sooner rather than later.

Fine— she’d let him take the lead in this for now, but she was going to get it out of him before too long. If there was something in the wind, it was her duty as Rapunzel’s knight to be ready for it. For now, though, she simply coached her friend through attacks until Rapunzel had the move down. Eugene used the shield to block, or danced aside from Rapunzel’s strikes.

Cass frowned and called a halt after a few more minutes of this. “Eugene, take a breather. Raps, come here.”

When Rapunzel was in earshot, she lowered her voice, watching Eugene get a drink from the water barrel. “You’re holding back.”

Rapunzel sighed. “I don’t want to hurt him.”

“You’re not good enough yet to actually hurt him, but I can understand your hesitation. You’re not cut out for the kind of violence he and I are.”

Rapunzel stared down at her blade. “If— if that priest hadn’t used that candle-thing, I would have done it, Cass. I wouldn’t have hesitated. If it comes to protecting you, Eugene, mom and dad— any of my friends— I’d strike to kill.”

Cass sighed. “Fine. I can see I’m not going to change your mind about this, but you’ve got to learn not to hesitate. Training dummy first, and then when I can see you strike without pulling your blow, we’ll graduate back to a live target.” She raised her voice. “Fitzherbert, grab one of the real training dummies— and I don’t mean a mirror. We need to see if she can hit where she aims for.”

He raised an eyebrow at her, but nodded and went to fetch one of the sand-filled dummies.

They trained until it was almost time for morning court and Cass and Rapunzel had to hurry back to clean up, Eugene promised to set the training field to rights and watched them hustle away. He let his shoulders sag, remembering his conversation with Pete.

_ “Are you going to observe the execution, sir? It’s set to take place at the ninth bell, while most everyone is in morning court.” _

_ “Execution—?” _

_ “The assassin, sir. Um, the king ordered it while you were ill and Cap drafted the papers. Acting Captain Max signed— well, put his hoofprint on it. Since you’re back on duty— are you going to witness?” _

It was nothing he wanted to do, but it was a part of his duty— and maybe it would sate that dark part of him that he’d discovered that day.

He couldn’t let Rapunzel know, she didn’t need to see a man face the gallows. Cass— with her much more vindictive streak— well, best if she stayed with Rapunzel, regardless. Sighing, he went to go find Max. The guard horse would understand, and Eugene could use someone to stand with him. Max whickered a greeting and paced beside him all the way to the seldom used area behind the main building of the castle— where the gallows that had nearly cost him his life— and Rapunzel her freedom— stood. Eugene stared straight ahead, his face set in an abstracted sort of scowl. He didn't dare look up at the structure. He couldn't, not without thinking of his very narrow escape from the noose years ago. 

Beside him, Max heaved a sigh then turned his head to blow in Eugene's hair, mussing what had honestly been one of his sloppier attempts at grooming anyway.

Eugene reached up to scratch under his partner's chin. "Yeah, I know. I'm not wanting to be here either." He turned so he could scratch at Max’s cheeks, under the straps of his halter.

His back stiffened as he heard the heavy thunks of the assassin’s boots up the wooden stairs. His hand tightened into a fist under Max’s jaw and he forced himself to turn and watch the man ascend the stairs. The assassin glowered at him as he was marched into place, both his hands, the bandaged one and the undamaged, shackled behind him. Eugene unconsciously swallowed as the hooded hangman dropped a noose over the assassin’s head.   
  
“Any last words?” the hangman asked in a bored tone.

“Curse those priests and their bloodstained gold.” The condemned man hissed. “They lied when they said you were too soft. And I believed it because Corona is—” he jerked his head to indicate the palace, gleaming in the afternoon light, before snapping his hateful eyes back to Eugene. “This. You’re as much a killer as I am, you just hide it better.”

The hangman pulled the lever and the floor dropped out from under the man’s feet and Eugene’s world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun little contest for all our readers. The names of the Pubs/Taverns are all references to bars in fantasy/sci-fi books I read over the years, though the names have been changed slightly in this to protect the less than innocent. Two of them are fairly easy to figure out if you look online. The third is a little harder, but the name of the owner is the same as in the book. (I'll give you one hint: Vampires in space) If anyone gets all three right, I will either give you a short story of your own, based on a prompt you may choose, or I will cameo an OC of yours in a later chapter of this. (You don't need to give me the author or anything, just the actual name of the establishment) Good luck!
> 
> Next Chapter: A needed talk between siblings. "And Death shall have no Dominion." No refuge in sleep.


	18. Death shall have no Dominion

She knew she’d run into him sooner or later, but honestly, Cass would have preferred much, much later. Maybe not never— but not this soon, not when his temper was still uncertain and his pride wounded. And she'd carved some of the wounds herself.

Cass drew herself up as he approached her, every muscle quivering with tension and her gut aching like someone had punched her in it. She resisted the urge to rub at the sharp ache. She couldn’t show weakness— not like before— not now. She flexed her gloved hands a couple of times before deciding to tuck them behind the small of her back. That would keep them from giving her away.

“Cassandra.” His tone was low, surprisingly quiet. It was at odds with the man she knew— the man who had raised her.

“Dad.” She kept her tone level, non-confrontational, but not inviting conversation.

“Would it help if I left?”

“Wha—?” Her carefully cultivated composure cracked and she pinched the bridge of her nose, heaving a sigh. “No— it wouldn’t help and—” she groaned. “Honestly, might make things worse. You are the one who taught me about duty— are you going to abandon yours as advisor to the Captain of the Guard? Are you actually going to put Eugene through that?” It was less anger and more frustration. Why couldn’t they just understand?

“I don’t want to, but honestly— what else can I do? Avoiding him didn’t work. I’m man enough to admit that I am terrified of the idea of him taking you away from me. At least when you are journeying, I know you will return. There is nothing in this world that would make you abandon the princess again. Edmund has made it clear he intends to take you there, and if you are princess of another kingdom— ”

“Dad—” Cass smoothed her hand down her face. “Okay, yes, you’re right— I’m not leaving Rapunzel again. That also means _ I’m not leaving Rapunzel again. _ I might have to go there, but I would always come back.” 

She sighed. “I’m no more eager to go there than you are to see me go— probably less, if I’m brutally honest about it. I’m not even cut out to be a princess, much less a ruler. I doubt if I ever will be.” She shook her head. “And everything I love is here.”

“Cassandra—”

She shook her head. “So, no— you aren’t leaving. You are behaving like a rational adult, and that means you learn to deal. No more fighting, no insults. Just pretend he’s a visitor to the kingdom, like every other noble that comes through these doors. Either that or you actually work something out with him and right now, there seems to be less chance of that happening than one of Varian’s prototypes not blowing up at least once.” She rubbed her forehead. “I’m tired, Dad. Eugene is tired. Rapunzel is tired. Because with the exception of Queen Arianna, all everyone else seems to be doing is screwing up! And yes, that includes you.” She gathered her battered dignity up and offered him a sharp nod. “Now, if you will excuse me, I feel a need to go punch a training dummy before I attend Evening court with the princess.”

She didn’t actually go to the training field to take out her frustrations like she wanted to, because the sharp ache of her stomach warned that would be a very bad idea, and she was really through with having people yell at her for not taking care of herself when she was injured. A ride would clear her head, but she wasn’t even allowed that. It was so frustrating. 

She thought of going down to the stables to spend at least a little time with Fidella, but she didn’t have enough time to go shower afterwards, and she couldn’t embarrass Rapunzel by showing up to court smelling of horse and with hay on her boots. Grunting in frustration, she headed to her room. Maybe she could scream into a pillow or something. Anything to ease the knot of frustrated anger curling under her breastbone. 

She was almost there when she passed one of the many windowed alcoves that let light into the corridors. There was a figure there, leaning against the window-glass, and it was one she knew, even if right now they looked far too hunched in on themselves. What had happened now?

“Eugene?”

He startled, turning to face her. His face was paler than it should be and honestly, he looked a little like a rabbit ready to run. But just as suddenly, he was back to smiling. “Cass! What brings you here?”

“This is the corridor that leads to my room, Fitzherbert. I have every right to be here. You, on the other hand, are pretty far from your usual haunts.”

“Ah— I felt like taking in the sights.” His grin was a little too wide.

“Of the servant’s quarters? Pull the other one.” She frowned at him.

His smile faltered just a little bit, before he upped the wattage. “Of course not the servant’s quarters— didn’t you just see me looking out the window?”

“Eugene—” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “That window literally looks out into the wash area.”

The falter this time was a lot bigger and he looked— haunted— haunted was a good word for it. But he pasted the smile back up before she had a chance to speak. “Well—”

“If you tell me you’re looking at the pretty laundrymaids, I’m gonna call you out on that, because I’m not stupid and you would  _ never _ — and then tell your wife that you said it anyway.

“Ouch, Dragon Lady.” His wince was flamboyant and overly-dramatic. “Just ouch.”

“So how ‘bout you tell me why you’re actually hiding out down here?”

“Hiding out? You wound me!”

“No— but I can—” Cass retorted, resting a hand on the hilt of her sword. “What’s wrong, Fitzherbert?”

For a moment, it looked like he was going to spill, but a maid moving further down the hall caused him to straighten up and shake his head. “Everything’s fine, Cass.”

_ Oh, enough of this bullshit— _ Cass grabbed his wrist and towed him after her toward her room. He was too startled to resist. She unlocked the door and gave him a firm shove in the back until they were both inside the door. She latched the door and leaned back against it, hiding a wince. Okay, so her wound wasn’t up to manhandling people. But somehow she knew this was too important to let go. “It’s not fine. What’s got you tied up in knots?”

He didn’t turn to face her. “Nothing’s wrong with me, Cass.”

He was lying. There was too much tension in his frame for nothing to be wrong. Honestly, this was getting worrisome. She chewed on her bottom lip for a second before deciding to change tactics. “Fine... If you won't tell me what's wrong with  _ you, _ wanna tell me why my  _ brother _ looks like absolute hell?”

He spun to face her, eyes blown wide in a too-pale face. “I—” 

Daring, she reached out and rested a hand on his bicep. The muscle quivered under her fingers. His eyes darted down to the hand on his arm and the remaining countenance of the arrogant Flynn Rider crumbled like a sand castle in the surf. “I— Cass—”

Oh, this was worse than she thought. She curled her fingers into the fabric of his sleeve and steered him toward the bed. Pushing him down on the edge of it, she pulled her desk chair over so she could face him squarely. “Talk to me, Eugene.”

He swallowed harshly, like he was fighting past a lump in his throat. “Cass—”

“Breathe and tell me what happened.” It wasn’t something she normally would do, and least of all with Eugene, but she reached over and took his hand, squeezing it.

He startled and then his fingers tightened on hers almost desperately. “The assassin—”

Her first thought was that the man escaped, but that wouldn’t have shaken Eugene like this. So she only made a soft, inquiring sound.

He looked down at his knees. “H-he was executed, yesterday, while you and Rapunzel were at morning court.”

Her automatic reaction was ‘good,’ but somehow she knew that wasn’t the right thing to say, so she kept her silence, waiting for him to continue. “His last words— he cursed the priests— and me. He said I’m— I’m just as much a killer as him— I only hide it b-better.” His voice wavered.

Unable to help herself, Cass barked a laugh. 

Eugene looked up, betrayal writ large in his eyes.

“Listen to me, you idiot. You are no kind of killer—”

“T-the Priest—”

“Stuff that. Tell me anyone would have hesitated, seeing him standing over— over a loved one like that. Even your wife, the literal embodiment of sunshine and rainbows, would have shanked him without a second thought if she’d found him standing over you— or me. That’s not the mark of a killer. That’s the heat of the moment and the need to protect someone you lov—  _ care _ about.”

“But—”

"But nothing.” She softened her tone when he flinched. “Eugene— listen to me. You are no sort of killer. Take it from someone who knows. Yes, there is blood on your hands and you may never be able to forget that, but that doesn’t make you a killer.”

“I killed a man.” His voice was so wretched it physically hurt to hear. “And—”

She cut him off by shaking the hand she was still gripping a little to get him to look at her. “Yes, you did. Now, take a good hard look at that moment in your head— would you do it again? Would you kill the mad dog again to protect those you love from being hurt by its sickness?”

“Mad dog—” he echoed, shaking himself like a horse ridding itself of flies. It seemed to steady him a little.

“Hesitation would have cost too much,” she repeated what she had told him then, seeing a tiny relaxation in his frame. “You are no killer, Eugene. You and I— we’re protectors. We have that ability within us to end a life, but only to guard what we love. This kingdom, our friends, Rapunzel—”

“Each other—?” his voice was small, but much steadier. 

“Heh— each other,” she confirmed, squeezing his hand. “I took an arrow for you, what makes you think I would hesitate to gut someone who tried to kill you? You just did that part first, but I’d honestly prefer if you don’t take an arrow for me. It isn’t a fun experience.” Her tone invited him to share the joke and it worked, drawing a weak chuckle out of him.

“I just—” He stalled for a second before finding the words. “When I— I tortured the assassin— there was something so dark and ugly and angry in me that— that—”

Cass shivered. She had only the vaguest of memories of one night in the infirmary, Eugene saying something about the assassin and the anger that had driven him to do what he had done. She couldn’t remember the whole conversation, fogged with drugs and pain, but her nightmares had been vivid full-colored images of her own twisted, bitter rage winning. Rapunzel had died in her dreams a thousand times that night, each death more horrific than the last, and all of them at Cass’s hands. But opening her eyes afterwards to see her alive and well had chased the terror away, but she remembered all too well the poisonous anger clawing its way out of her breast over and over in her nightmares.

“It will always be there— that anger—” she said at last, carefully, feeling each word out before giving voice to it. “I know—” she lifted her free hand to touch that spot under her breastbone where it slumbered, caged by her will. “You can keep it leashed, under control— you know what it feels like to let it slip— and what you can do— when that anger is the master of you.”

Eugene shuddered so hard she felt it. “Y-Yeah—” he breathed. “I— I don’t want to do that again— feel that again.”

“I’m going to tell you something your wife told me,” She squeezed his fingers firmly. “Remember that hurt— remember it and use it to keep control.”

“Sunshine— she told you that?” 

“She did.” Cass sighed. “It— it was when I was still so mad at you and King Edmund first came. I was— honestly— scared of how close to snapping I was. Ever since— well, since I let Zhan Tiri get into my head and twist me around—” this time it was her voice that cracked, and in response Eugene’s fingers tightened on hers. “It’s been really close to the surface— that anger— and I was so, so off-balance, that I felt like I was a step away from the edge of a fall.” Her own laugh sounded a little brittle in her ears. “She said that to me— so now I’m saying it to you.”

“Eugene chuckled weakly. “Trust Sunshine to have the right words.” 

“Better her than me. You know me, I’m hardly good at saying the right thing— or anything that isn’t a sarcastic remark.” Cass shrugged. This was probably the most talking about her thoughts and feelings she’d ever done.

“I dunno about that, Dragon Lady. You did pretty darn good with talking at your dad and mine.” It was a horribly weak version of his usual smile, but it was an effort.

“Because they were being idiots. They needed to hear that.” She snorted. “And if they still can’t over themselves, I’ll say it again, though I might go for poking holes in them first, for the sheer bullheadedness they’re showing. I’m tired of it— Pretty sure you’re tired of it too, and don’t even get me started on how done with it Queen Arianna is.”

His laugh was a little more real. “We got nothing on her, I’m sure.”

He was still shaken, she could tell— but honestly, she wasn’t sure there was much more she could do for him. She hadn’t been lying when she’d once said she wasn’t good at talking about things, least of all such emotionally charged subjects. “Let’s go—” she said, pushing herself back to her feet and tugging at the hand still held in hers.

“Wha—? Where?”

“To find your wife. You—” She paused and made a deliberately exaggerated face of disgust. “You need a— _ bleagh _ — hug, and I’m not doing it. After all, I’m  _ not _ a hugger.” She mimicked the tone he had used when saying that to Edmund.

This time, the laugh was far more real, and he let her pull him to his feet. To her surprise, he slung his arm over her shoulders. “Hey, we hugged before!”

“You mean you manhandled me into a hug.” But she didn’t duck out from under his arm.

“Can— can we not tell Sunshine why I need that hug?”

“You, Mister Oversharing-is-my-middle-name?” She side-eyed him.

“Not lying to her, Dragon Lady, just— I don’t want her to worry about me.”

“Pretty sure she does that regularly, Fitzherbert.” She said as she relocked her door behind them.

“Okay, worry more,” he amended.

“I think you’re a bonehead, but I won’t say anything unless you do.” She rolled her shoulders under his arm in a shrug. “But honestly, she’s not going to be too shook up that the assassin that tried to kill us all was executed. She’s a lot stronger than that.”

“I know she is— just— just that he called me a k—”

“Which you are not.” She cut him off firmly with a negating motion of her hand. “We established that.”

“Right—” his voice was uncertain, and she dug her elbow into his ribs.

"Not.” She repeated.

“.... not,” his agreement wasn’t by any means the best, but she would take it over self-blame.

“Hey, Cass?” His arm tightened briefly around her shoulders, and his voice was surprisingly soft.

“Yeah?”

“Have I mentioned that— that I’m  _ glad _ you’re my sister?”

_ Oh...  _ That was unexpected. Cass felt her heart skip a beat in her chest. She blinked, and had to take a second to answer him. She wasn’t the best at sharing her emotions. “You— you’re not so bad of a brother yourself, Fitzherbert.”

He chuckled, the sound richer and fuller than any other she had gotten out of him today. “Coming from you, Dragon Lady, that’s a ringing endorsement.”

She elbowed him. “Shut up.”

He grunted and whined theatrically, but left his arm looped casually around her shoulders. Though her first instinct was to shrug him off, she quelled it and simply walked with him out of the servants quarters in search of Rapunzel.

They found her with Varian, chattering animatedly while he fitted pieces of piping together in a hole in the castle wall, answering her absent-mindedly, most of his attention obviously on his work as he wedged his upper body into the gap in the masonry.

“Sunshine, are you bothering Varian while he works? You know that usually leads to explosions.” Eugene said with a chuckle.

“Hey!” came indignantly from the wall and the Royal Engineer half-buried in it.

Rapunzel turned, her mouth open in mid-word at the sight of Eugene with his arm draped casually around Cassandra’s shoulders. “I—” She shook herself, worry creeping into her eyes. “Is everything alright?”

“It’s fine, Sweetheart. Cass and I were just—” He paused, obviously not ready with a glib excuse, just this once.

“Bonding—” Cass put in for him, digging an elbow into his ribs and ducking out from under his arm.

Rapunzel’s expression was sceptical, but she slid easily into the arm Eugene offered, wrapping her arms around his waist and going up on her toes to kiss him sweetly. Eugene sighed and Cass could see how his whole body lost tension. He wrapped both arms around his wife and lifted her off the ground in the hug. “Gods, Sunshine, I love you so much—”

When he let her down, she touched his cheek. “Eugene—?”

The resulting quirk of his lips was wobbly, but real. “Just needed a hug. Sometimes, that’s the best cure-all in the world.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead.

Rapunzel leaned in and rested her cheek on his shoulder. “I have all the hugs you could ever ask for.”

Eugene chuckled and his eyes softened with love. “I know, sweetheart. Believe me, I know. I might need a few more, just to make sure the cure worked.” His laugh invited her to join in and she did, giggling softly into his shirt.

“All you had to do is ask.” Her fingers slipped into his and she tugged him toward their rooms.

Eugene glanced back at Cass. “Thanks,” he said softly.

She smiled and offered him a two-fingered salute, turning and heading back to her room. She had a feeling Raps was going to skip court after this, so she was free for now.

In the empty corridor, a voice asked, “Hey, princess— do you think you could hand me that wrench?”

When it was only answered with silence, a dusty head emerged from the hole in the wall. Varian blinked at the empty hall. “And they’re gone— okay—”

~

Dinner that night was a— a charged affair. It was a full court meal, something Frederic and Arianna seldom hosted, mostly preferring smaller, less formal meals. But It had been deemed best to offer some reassurances that they would not be going to war over the insults. Edmund was seated at the high table with Frederic and Arianna, Rapunzel and Eugene. He was mostly quiet, his eyes brooding. He glanced up once and something angry flashed in his gaze before he turned his attention back to his food. 

Eugene looked up to see what he was looking at, and found something that was a mix of amusement and exasperation tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Cass had automatically fallen back into her place as Rapunzel’s knight, lurking behind her chair— at least until Eugene snagged her arm and pulled her down into a seat. “Princess now, remember?” he said quietly.

Her automatic protest was quelled when he cut his eyes over to where Edmund was concentrating too hard on his plate. Rapunzel reached past Eugene to rest a hand on Cass’s wrist. “Please sit down, Cass.”

Heaving a sigh, and adjusting her sword, Cass settled into the chair, allowing a server to place a plate in front of her and fill a glass— though she shook her head when he offered wine. Her posture was perfect and she was better at picking the right utensil for the course than Eugene was. He could see where Rapunzel had learned her courtly mannerisms, glancing between the two of them.

It worked. Edmund lost the brooding look and actually began to answer Arianna’s conversation.

Rapunzel sighed near-inaudibly as the tension in the room eased and smiled past him at Cass, who rolled her eyes.

After that, the rest of dinner went smoothly enough. After the dessert course was cleared away, Rapunzel rose and bowed to Edmund and her parents, begging the need for air. “Perhaps a walk in the Gardens, love.” Arianna suggested, glancing at Eugene, who took his cue and rose, offering his arm to Rapunzel. Cass rose and followed, as she would always go where Rapunzel did.

Rapunzel sighed and leaned into Eugene. “I don’t think I ate more than a few bites. I couldn’t, not with how tense the air was.”

As he had done more pushing his food around than actually eating it, Eugene nodded. Cass had eaten less than him, barely touching more than a bite or two of food. “What say we raid the kitchens later this evening and have ourselves a little picnic? I think we’ll all eat better without so many eyes on us.”

“That sounds wonderful,” Rapunzel went up on her toes to kiss his cheek. “Cass, no backing out. You need to eat too.”

“I—”

A rustle in the shrubbery and Cass was suddenly between them and whatever was making the noise, sword drawn.

Hamuel flopped out of the bushes, cawing pitifully as he landed on his back.

Cass sighed and sheathed her sword. “It’s rude to lurk in the shrubbery.”

Edmund pushed his way through the leaves to stand on the path. “Rapunzel. Son.” A beat and then cautiously, “Cassandra.”

“King Edmund.” she returned coolly.

“I— I was perhaps not as honorable as I should have been, casting aspersions on— on your f-father.” Edmund looked embarrassed.

“You think?” Cass’s tone could have cut glass. “I’m tired of this game, and I told you both, I am no sort of prize for you to fight over. Either of you.”

Edmund bowed his head. He obviously knew he had lost any ground he had gained with her, and the only consolation was that she was just as furious at Cap. “I understand that,” he said at last. “I was hoping, perhaps, that Rapunzel might make good on her promise to tell me the story behind ‘not again’?”

Rapunzel sighed, almost as mentally exhausted as Cass had professed to being. “I will, just, please, not tonight. I need food and a chance to—” She searched for a word.

“Decompress.” Eugene supplied quietly.

She shot him a grateful smile. “Decompress— before I have to drag out those memories. Understand, for all there’s a happy ending—” She gestured at Cass and Eugene, the fingers of her other hand tightening on Eugene’s arm. “Neither was— a pleasant situation,” she finished diplomatically.

“That’s one way of putting it, Sunshine.”

She leaned her head on his shoulder. “I will tell you, Edmund, like I promised— I just— can’t tonight. It’s too much to think on right now.”

Edmund opened his mouth— whether to protest or agree, Eugene couldn’t say, because he cut him off. “Dad— don’t press, okay?”

Edmund subsided, stooping to right Hamuel, who had flopped himself over the toe of his boot like a beached fish.

“Tomorrow— in the library, after lunch,” Rapunzel conceded tiredly. “I’ll tell you then.”

Eugene glanced over at Cass and saw the agreement in her eyes before he even spoke. “We all will. There are parts that one or the other of us know better than Rapunzel, but they're equally important to the story.”

Rapunzel sighed. “Yes.”

“One thing—” Cass spoke up for the first time. “Like Raps said— they aren’t pleasant things to talk on— so no flying off the handle. There’s no one  _ left _ to get mad at.”

Edmund studied her for a long moment before nodding slowly. He offered a short bow. “Until the morrow, then.” He turned and left them. 

Rapunzel sagged and Cass sighed and relaxed too-tight shoulders.

Eugene sighed, slipping his arm around Rapunzel’s waist as she leaned against him, “That’s gonna be fun.”

“You’ll be fine. You like talking about yourself.” Cass retorted, but with none of her usual venom.

“Coming from someone who doesn’t know how to share,” Eugene shot back tiredly.

“Walking now,” Rapunzel reminded them with a soft giggle.

They spent the better part of an hour just wandering the paths in the gardens, though Eugene conspicuously avoided a certain clearing and the knife-scarred tree there. It was well into the evening when Rapunzel sighed. “I suppose we better go inside now, before people start wondering what happened to us.”

“Let ‘em wonder,” Eugene said with a chuckle. “I’m all for picnicking under the stars.”

“It is still warm enough,” Cass added. “There might be frost on the ground by morning, but right now the weather is nice.”

“I’m not sure whether or not I should be worried that you’re agreeing with me, Dragon Lady.”

“Cherish it. It might not ever happen again.”

“Cass—” but Rapunzel was giggling.

“Let’s go raid the kitchens. I’m in a mood for something that wasn’t the dainties they served at the dinner none of us ate.” Eugene said, turning back toward the palace.

Cass took the lead, pointing them through a servant’s entrance where they were unlikely to run into anyone— or at least anyone ennobled. There was only the baker in the kitchen at this hour, prepping the bread for the morning. Rapunzel smiled sweetly at him and told him that she hadn’t been able to eat during dinner so they were going to get something simple to eat and take it with them.

He offered to wake a cook’s helper and have them prepare something, but Rapunzel shook her head. “I made my own food for most of my life— I think I can manage slicing a bit of cheese. And Cass and Eugene both know how to fend for themselves.”

They did accept the warm from the ovens loafs that he offered, unable to resist the alluring smell of fresh baked bread. Cass found a hamper and between them they loaded it with simple fare, meat and cheese, some pickles, boiled eggs, cut vegetables and the warm bread. The baker pressed on them some jam tarts he had made for the next day. Cass had a weakness for them, and Eugene had an unrivaled sweet tooth, so they happily accepted, not even pretending reluctance. 

Fleeing back to the gardens, Eugene borrowed a hanging lantern from one of the poles lighting the main paths and they found a patch of grass to spread their bounty out on. Simple as it was, the food went down so much easier than the fancy meal none of them had had the stomach to eat. Pascal ate the white moths that flocked around the lantern, but shamelessly begged for bits of the sweet berry jam from the tart Rapunzel was nibbling on.

With the giddiness of emotional weariness and not being under the observation of so many judgemental eyes, Cass and Eugene squabbled like children over the remaining tarts. Cass smirked when he stole one of her hoard and quickly smashed it into his face as he went to take a bite of his stolen treat. “The berry really improves your face,” she taunted as he sputtered.

“You’re just jealous of my rugged appeal. You’d love to be half as good-looking as me!”

Cass snorted as she threw a napkin at him. “I am immensely glad I don’t look anything like you!”

“Like you could pull off anything as sexy as this?” He wiped his goatee clean and stroked it back into place with an attempt at his smolder.

“Should I break it to you that you aren’t pulling it off? It looks like something died on your chin.”

“Hardly! The ladies love my stylish facial hair, right, sweetheart?”

Rapunzel giggled behind her tart, declining to answer. 

“As a woman, I can honestly say I  _ don’t.” _ Cass retorted, popping the last bite of one of her tarts in her mouth.

“Ice Dragons hardly qualify as women, much less ladies.” Eugene scowled at her. “Scales are not a fashionable trend.”

“You wouldn’t know fashion if it bit you.” Cass laughed. “Or do you forget who helped Raps pick out those dresses you drooled over at every court function?”

“I never—!”

“You could hardly pull your eyes out of her cleavage, Fitzherbert!”

“Coming from someone who has more in common with boards, that’s rich!”

“And I think that’s enough.” Rapunzel clapped her hands sharply, but her smile said she was more amused than annoyed.

The teasing had brightened all their moods, and they nibbled on the last of their dessert and tossed bits of the berry tarts into the air for Pascal to snag with his tongue.

Cass leaned back on her hands, feeling the pull of the healing skin across her abdomen. “Hey, Eugene— do you know if Varian has anything good for— calming someone?”

Eugene snorted. “I could ask, but I don’t know all the things he has in his lab except that about half of them explode if you look at them funny. Why? Planning on drugging Cap and Dad until they listen to reason?”

“Well, Edmund, at least.” Cass said. “Though that  _ is _ a thought for a later date. No— look, we both know Edmund can get a— little crazy, especially over either of us getting hurt.” Eugene had shared with her the demise of the second assassin during one of his turns at guarding her, after all, and she had heard for herself how freaked out Edmund had been when Eugene collapsed. “We died, Eugene. He’s—”

“Not gonna take that well,” Eugene finished for her, a look of dawning horror in his eyes.  _ “Hoo boy— _ No wonder you said that about there being no one left to get mad at.”

“Maybe a nice soothing tea?” Rapunzel suggested, leaning against Eugene’s shoulder.

“I doubt that would do the least little bit of good, Sunshine.” Eugene looked down at her. “You’ve seen Dad get a little crazy. Chamomile isn’t going to do a blessed thing.”

“Point,” she conceded.

Eugene picked up her hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it. “Yeah, I’m gonna go see if Varian has anything, hopefully something that won’t have a taste so we can give it to him in some wine. If there’s something off about the taste—”

“He’ll think it’s another assassination attempt and won’t that be fun.” Cass said sourly. “You go, Raps and I will clean up here. I’ll pick up a good bottle of wine from the cellar before we go to the library tomorrow.”

“You know good wine from bad?” Eugene asked with a teasing smirk.

Cass snorted at him. “Better than you.”

“I will have you know I have tasted some of the finest wines in the world.”

“Yes, but did you appreciate them? Or were they just another prize of Flynn Rider?”

“You know, I hate it when you have a point, Dragon Lady.”

“I have lots of points. Get going before I introduce you to some of them.”

Eugene rose to his feet with one last kiss brushed across his wife’s temple and headed for Varian’s lab, while Cass and Rapunzel packed things back into the hamper, leaving no sign of their impromptu picnic but some crumbs on the grass that would be gone by morning. They carried the leftovers back to the kitchen and then headed for Varian’s lab themselves.

Eugene met them halfway there, holding out a tiny little vial full of colorless liquid that shimmered faintly in the light of the lamps. “He says one drop in the wine will be enough to help keep Dad from losing his cool.”

“So, the whole bottle, then?” Cass responded.

Eugene gave her a sour look. “Not having another incident like the mood-altering potion, thanks. And hey, maybe you can use the rest of it to get him and Cap to listen to reason.”

Cass sighed, rubbing her temples. “Anything is better than this idiocy. I am so tired of two grown men fighting over me like I’m some prize in a contest.”

His expression went wry. “I feel like it’s all my fault— for finding out about the birthmark.”

“Don’t be an idiot. It wasn’t your fault. The doctor saw it and told King Frederic about it. I just— I needed someone to be mad at and you were a convenient scapegoat.” She rolled her eyes. “And it’s certainly no fault of yours that they can’t act like adults.”

“Is it bad that their own children have to be more mature than them?” 

“Yes— yes, it is.” Cass sighed, tugging at a handful of her curls. The slight sting of her scalp was something she could ground herself on. “Tell you what though— Let's not let that on, okay? The last thing we need is people trying to put us on... ugh... our respective thrones early.”

Eugene chuckled but touched her shoulder. “We’ll figure something out, Cass.” His eyes were honest, and almost as weary as she felt.

Rapunzel slipped an arm around Cassandra’s waist. “Tomorrow is soon enough to figure something out. Right now we all need some sleep before— before I drag all those memories out into the open again.”

Cass rested her arm around Rapunzel’s shoulders, allowing herself to take the offered comfort. “Yeah. I might grab two bottles of wine. One for us for after. Despite my medications, I’m gonna need a glass.”

“Make it three, Dragon Lady. A glass or two isn’t going to blunt the edges of those memories.” His hand curled close to his side, where she knew a white scar stood in stark contrast to his tan skin.

Rapunzel sighed and with a gentle squeeze released Cass and went back to her husband’s side. “Let’s just get some rest for now, okay? Tomorrow is going to be long enough without lack of sleep making it longer.”

Cass nodded and turned to go back to her room. “See you tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” Eugene responded, taking Rapunzel's hand and kissing her knuckles. “And Cass— thanks.”

She allowed herself a small smile and nodded back at him.

~

The next day, they all ate a quick lunch and headed to the library before Edmund got there. Rapunzel carefully measured a single drop into the goblet she left by the chair for Edmund. Then she and the others sat down to wait for him. Cass was sharpening one of her daggers, simply to have something to do with her hands. She didn’t want to drag up those memories again. From the nervous jittering of Eugene’s leg, he felt the same.

When Edmund arrived, Rapunzel rose and poured them all a measure of wine from the bottle Cass had brought up from the cellars. There were two more bottles tucked in a basket under Rapunzel’s chair. Cass put her knife away and wrapped both hands around the goblet to keep them still. Eugene tossed back more than half his glass in one go.

Edmund took a drink of his own as Rapunzel sat back in her chair, tucking her bare feet under her. Her eyes were distant, filled with memories, as she asked quietly what Edmund knew of her rescue from the tower she had spent eighteen years in.

Edmund swirled the wine in his glass contemplatively. “Only what my son has shared with me. He said you were raised there by the witch who stole you from your cradle. And that he found you when he was searching for refuge after stealing—”

“Her crown. Best crime I ever committed.” Eugene said, smiling softly at his wife. “She hadn’t ever had any contact with anyone but the woman who stole her, who kept her for the healing power of her hair— to keep herself young. At least until I climbed in through her window.”

“I introduced myself to him with a frying pan to the head.” Rapunzel giggled. Then, slowly, choosing her words with utmost care, she told the tale of escaping the tower to see the lanterns, and the plot of the woman she had called Mother most of her life to take her back. She didn’t hide the details, like the tearing pain of perceived betrayal when she thought Eugene had abandoned her— and returning to the tower with Gothel. She told of her epiphany that she was the Lost Princess and of Gothel chaining her when confronted. Of Gothel packing, planning to leave, go where no one could ever find them again.

Eugene reached over and stroked her hair, quietly picking up his part of the tale, telling of his capture and planned execution, and the rescue by the pub thugs and Maximus, and their desperate run to the tower. “I called out to Rapunzel, and her hair came tumbling out the window. I climbed up it and found her chained.” His eyes darkened. While he had joked about his own death, it had been to cover the very real trauma. “I never even saw  _ that woman _ behind me. She stabbed me.” His hand went to the scar on his side. “Here.”

Edmund’s head came up and Cass knew he understood the location of the wound, the same as she had the first time she’d seen the scar. It had been a fatal wound from the get-go. A slow, agonizing one, but death all the same. Edmund’s hand tightened on his goblet, to the point of it shaking.

Rapunzel had drawn her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them tightly. “He— he was dying. Mo— Gothel knew just where to stab him— I don’t think it was the first time she had killed someone, now— now that I think about it. She said our secret would die with him, so she knew— knew she had killed him. I begged, bargained with her— only let me save him and I— I would go with her, wouldn’t fight her— wouldn’t leave her.” Tears welled in her eyes and she scrubbed them away with the heel of her hand, gulping a shaky breath. 

“She agreed— chained him so he couldn’t follow us—” Her hand came up to touch her short hair. “I was desperate to save him— I started to— to—” Her breath hitched and Eugene pulled her out of her chair and into his in one swift motion, holding her tight against his chest for a long moment, murmuring soothingly into her hair until she had calmed a little bit.

Still holding her tightly, he took up the thread of the tale, his voice emotionless in a way that made Cass nauseous. “I stopped her. I couldn’t let her sacrifice her freedom for me. There was a broken mirror on the floor. I got hold of a piece of it and— and I cut through her hair.”

“It turned brown and lost its power. Mo—  _ Gothel _ — she— she started to age and stumbled about, s-screaming. She tripped on it and— and went out the window.”

Rapunzel had always been reticent to speak of how the woman she and Cass had both called ‘mother’ had died, and now Cass knew why.

“I tried— I tried to heal him— b-but my hair had no power and he-he—” Rapunzel sucked in a great, gulping breath. “H-he died. He died in my arms.”

“Died?” Edmund’s face had gone white, his dark eyes looking even more sunken in than usual. “You  _ died? _ ”

“I did.” Eugene nodded, tucking his chin against the top of Rapunzel’s head. He said no more and merely held his wife, his eyes looking at something only he could see. Cass shivered. She knew what he was thinking of, the same thing she had felt— 

Chilled, she set her glass down and wrapped her arms around herself, holding onto her shoulders. Hearing Rapunzel this torn up, she didn’t want to dredge up those memories for her either.

“But—”

Rapunzel shivered. “I tried, but when I couldn’t— I started crying. I guess the last of the Sundrop’s magic was there, in those tears and— and he healed— h-he woke up.” There were tears sliding down her cheeks and Eugene rocked her in his lap until she sniffled and scrubbed at her eyes. “I lost him that day— I got him back but— I can’t think of losing him again. Ever again.” She hugged Eugene’s neck tightly, burying her face in his shoulder for a moment.

Edmund’s face was a study of mixed emotions. Rage and sorrow, confusion and distress, dismay and sympathy all warred for dominance on his countenance. Then his eyes cut to Cass and she could see the realization in his gaze. He fished for words for a moment until she took pity on him and nodded. “Both of us,” she said simply.

“How?”

“The battle with Zhan Tiri—” Cass picked up her glass and drank the contents to still the tremors of her hands that wanted to make the liquid within ripple.

Edmund stilled. “I was there— but I don’t remember that.”

Cass bit her lower lip. “Not a lot of people did. Most— most everyone had gone down when— when—”

“When Zhan Tiri used the Decay Incantation—” Rapunzel finished for her, stretching her arm across the gap between their chairs. 

Cass gratefully took it, the warmth of slender fingers in her own giving her the strength to go on. “I don’t know if it was some remnant of my connection to the Moonstone and Rapunzel’s to the Sundrop, but neither of us were affected by it. Raps— Rapunzel— There was a single tiny shard of the Moonstone that Zhan Tiri hadn’t gotten; it gave Rapunzel her powers back, but they weren’t stable. But it was enough for her—”

“Us,” Rapunzel said firmly, squeezing her hand.

“To fight Zhan Tiri with.” Cass continued, voice tight in a throat that felt lined with sand. “She and I, we used her hair to catch Zhan Tiri’s arms and pull them back—” She freed her hand from Rapunzel’s to demonstrate how they had held the demon pinioned for that crucial moment. “Like this. Then Rapunzel cut her hair— and Zhan Tiri’s struggling to escape slammed the Moonstone and Sundrop together—” She stopped there, reaching back out to Rapunzel, desperate for something to hold on to against that breathless, unending moment of agony and light and unbearable loneliness. 

Warm fingers slid back into her palm, and a larger hand came to rest over both of theirs. She glanced up at Eugene, his eyes filled with an understanding that no one else in the world could share. Her breath hitched, but she clung to their warmth. 

Rapunzel squeezed her hand just short of painfully tight before taking up where she had left off, her voice thick with emotion. “When the stones had merged— I looked for Cass— and found her crumpled on the ground. She wasn’t breathing.”

Edmund’s horrified eyes darted between the three of them.

Rapunzel drew in a deep breath and said in a voice that only wavered a little. “You already know I used the combined stone to heal everyone hurt by the Incantation, but it was to save Cass that I reached for it. I refused to lose her.” Her laugh was a little watery. “That’s why I said I can’t— I  _ won’t _ lose them again. Nothing, cosmic power or even  _ death itself _ gets to take them away from me again.” Her voice was fierce and her eyes burned with all the strength of will it had taken to hold onto a power never meant for mortal hands.

There was silence for a long moment, Edmund staring at them with some unnamable look in his eyes. Then he pushed himself to his feet and took the two steps needed to stand before where Rapunzel still sat in her husband’s lap, with Cass’s hand held tight in hers.

Edmund dropped to his knees with a thud that made the chair jump and bent to rest his forehead on Rapunzel’s knee. “You will forever have my gratitude for pulling my children back from death’s embrace. I cannot thank you enough for their continued lives.”

Rapunzel pulled her other hand from where it was looped around her husband’s neck and rested it on Edmund’s bowed head. “I would— and could do it again. There is nothing I couldn’t do to keep them by my side.” Her voice was soft and she stroked Edmund’s hair back from his face. He caught her hand and pressed a fervent kiss to the back of it.

Rapunzel smiled down wearily at him, before glancing at Cass and Eugene. Cass didn’t know how she looked, but Eugene looked shaky and pale. Rapunzel was trembling and tears still gleamed in her green eyes. Cass wasn’t honestly feeling much steadier. Remembering that day brought back that aching emptiness and turned her insides into one giant knot of pain. Sucking in a breath that felt like a solid lump of ice, she pushed herself to her feet, wincing as she forgot that her stomach still did not like sudden movement. She covered it with a polite clearing of her throat.

“Forgive us, but those memories are— wearying,” She said with every ounce of the court manners that had been drilled into her. “We will see you at dinner, King Edmund, but for now the princess is not well and needs to rest.” She saw his wince, but she wasn’t forgiving him yet, not until he and her father settled their differences like grown men and not children. “Until then, sir.” Her bow was stiff, but that was more the results of pain than anger.

Edmund pushed himself to his feet so Eugene and Rapunzel could rise. He reached out and touched Eugene’s face like he could not believe that his son was standing there in front of him. His eyes slid to Cassandra and he offered her a wobbly smile. His dark eyes were damp with unshed tears.

She gave him a slow nod. For all her justifiable anger, she knew he was hurting at the thought that he had nearly lost his children before he even really knew them. She could understand that.

He gave her a nod in return, pressing another kiss to the back of Rapunzel’s trembling hand with a deep, respectful bow.

With one last lingering look at all of them, Edmund nodded and left them to— if Cass was honest about it— seek comfort in each other's presence. Because frankly, they all needed it, Rapunzel most of all, to judge by the way she was leaning into Eugene's arms.

Rapunzel looked up at her, eyes wet with unshed tears and pulled on the hand that Cass had honestly forgotten she was holding, reeling her into the hug. “I know I got you both back, but I hate remembering losing you in the first place,” she muttered into Cass’s shoulder.

Cass wrapped her arm around Rapunzel’s waist and dug the fingers of her other hand into the back of Eugene’s shirt. She didn’t even have to look to know he was thinking of the same thing she was— a timeless hell they shared with no other person in the world.

Eugene tangled his fingers in the shoulder of her surcoat, tightening his trip on both of them. “I— I think Dragon Lady had the right idea, Sunshine. I think we could all use a break. I don’t know that I’m up to dealing with anyone after this.”

Rapunzel nodded into Cass’s shoulder. “I— I think you’re both right. I just— need to calm down.”

“Right. Captain of the guard’s orders, the princess is unavailable to anyone until—”

“Dinner time. We told Edmund we’d see him then,” Rapunzel said softly, still leaning into the two of them.

“Dinner time, then. Come on Sunshine, let’s get you up to the bedroom,” Eugene said, pulling out of the embrace to sweep her up in his arms, ignoring her feeble protest. “Cass, you wanna grab the wine, while I get our favorite princess to her room?”

Cass nodded and pulled the basket out from under Rapunzel’s chair and corked the half-drunk bottle before adding it to the basket. She felt a little light-headed, but other than that, there had been no ill-effects from drinking it after having taken her morning dose. She followed the sound of Eugene’s voice up the stairs to the princess’s room, pausing when she saw Faith carrying an armload of dresses for mending. “The Princess is not feeling well, could you pass on word to the queen, please?”

Faith sidled away from her but nodded, scurrying down the stairs. She— still had not forgiven Cassandra for everything that happened. Sighing, Cass shook her head and continued up the stairs. The door was already closed so she tapped lightly, bending to set the basket down. She never had the chance, when the door opened and Eugene snagged her arm, hauling her into the room. “What the hell—?” she spluttered, yanking herself free.

Rapunzel was seated on the bed, legs tucked under her. She smiled sheepishly, stretching out her hands toward Cass. “Sorry, it’s my fault. I just— is it silly that I want both of you in sight for now? That— it hurt dragging those memories out to look at again.”

“It’s not silly, Sunshine.” Eugene stepped over to the bed and pressed a kiss on her cheek. “To be honest— I’m feeling about the same— and I’m sure Princess Pinecone over there would be the same if she admitted to anything resembling human emotion.”

“Really, Fitzherbert—?” Cass shot him a look and then sat on the edge of the bed, her knee brushing Rapunzel’s leg. “We’re here, Raps, and we’re not going anywhere.”

“Well, I’m going to the door to send someone to bring us some wine glasses and maybe cheese and bread to go with it. I intend to forget my sorrows in the bottom of my glass.” Eugene said, tousling Rapunzel's hair and making good on his word.

They were none of them entirely sober by the time dinner rolled around, but wine and the company of each other had blunted the cutting edges of those memories, and for now, that was enough.

~

He was in the tower. Why was he in the tower? Rapunzel was wrapping her hair around him, promising him he'd be all right. Oh he remembered this. He had to cut her hair to free her from Gothel.

But try as he might, he couldn't grab the mirror shard. His hand wouldn't move.  _ Why wouldn't it move? _

“It seems you dawdled too long, my flower." He heard Gothel's voice. “Head in the cloud like always." Rapunzel was yanked from his view and suddenly he could move. He chased after them, calling for Rapunzel, but she didn't seem to hear him. She just wept as Gothel dragged her along, not even fighting the brutal grip on her wrist. He reached out to grab her, but his hands went right through.

He had died in the tower. He was a  _ ghost! _ How could he help Rapunzel? What would Dad—?

And suddenly he was in the castle of the Dark Kingdom. Edmund sat on the throne, weeping openly. “Dad— dad, I'm here, I'm okay!"

But his father couldn't hear him, awash with grief, and not even realizing he still had family alive. He had to fix this, had to do  _ something. _

And then he was in the Moonstone's chamber. It glowed with a deceptively serene light.

This was a bad idea, such a bad idea. But he had to save Rapunzel! And help his Dad! He didn't want to destroy anyone. Eugene reached his ghostly hand around the Moonstone and it pulsed, washing his vision in blue light.

Suddenly he was standing on a battlefield. There were black rocks strewn about everywhere, most of them impaling people he knew. Dad, Varian, Lance, Cap, Cass, the Queen and King. All of them— lifeless and dangling.

He heard a gasp and looked behind him. Rapunzel was looking at him, seeing him as she hadn’t before, but this time in abject horror. She took a step back, as though ready to run in fear.

“Rapunzel, no!" He reached out to her and a stream of black rocks jutted from the ground and killed her as they had killed everyone else. She didn’t even have a chance to cry out as she died.

**_“NO!"_ ** Eugene ran to her and dropped to his knees. This couldn't be happening. He never wanted to hurt anyone, but especially not  _ her! Never her! _

"Oh, you foolish little boy." He felt a hand reach from behind and guide his chin until he was looking Mother Gothel in the eye.  _ "Of course _ you killed her and destroyed everything you loved.” She smirked, that cold smile he remembered from the tower. “After all, you're a monster. That's what we  _ do." _

Eugene's eyes snapped open and his chest ached as if there were no breath in his lungs. Still he didn't dare move for several seconds, as if afraid that if he did so the reality of the bedroom would shatter and leave the horrifying dream his new reality. Slowly and delicately he moved his eyes alone to the side and saw Rapunzel there. He must not have screamed in his sleep, for she was still deep in hers. Her face was somehow even more angelic as she slowly breathed in and out.

At last Eugene let himself inhale. It was slow and his lungs cried out in pain, but the fear was still there. Slowly, so as not to wake her, Eugene shifted and put his arms around Rapunzel, like a child holding onto a plush toy for comfort. Holding her, feeling that she was warm and alive helped, but it couldn't keep the fragments of the nightmare from clawing at his mind.

_ That's what we do. _ Gothel had never spoken those words in reality, but her voice saying them seared into his mind, and prevented him from getting anymore sleep that night. He laid awake until the sun rose, clinging to Rapunzel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that was a ride down memory lane, huh? Hope the revamp didn't bother anyone, but Edmund never knew the whole story of Eugene rescuing Rapunzel, and I rewatched Plus est en Vous a couple of times to discover when Edmund went down from the Decay incantation, he was facing away from the balcony where the final confrontation happened. So even if he wasn't completely out of it, he didn't see what happened.
> 
> Next Chapter: Bandits on the border. Cass proves that Varian and Eugene aren't the only ones who can pull clever tricks. A Disruption in Court.


	19. Borders

Eugene knew his dad had something to do with it when Frederic pulled him aside after breakfast the next day, telling him that he would be sitting in his role as Prince-consort at Evening court tonight. For all he was Captain of the Guard, that little scene with Cass at dinner the other night had made it clear Dad wanted to see his children treated like the nobility they were. It was frustrating, but he supposed it was for the best. If for nothing else than to keep Dad on an even keel until they could find a way to settle his grudge with Cap.

He nodded, hiding a grimace. He still wasn’t comfortable with the role of prince. He had only the crash course they had given him at the same time as Rapunzel was getting hers in being a princess. And he’d known at the time that it was only so he wouldn’t embarrass anyone. Tired as he was, he hoped it was only sitting there and looking good (which he could do easily) and not trying to figure out which snooty noble belonged to which snootier family. Or worse, mediating disputes over stupid things.

He headed to his office to get his routine duties out of the way, grateful that Cap had been handling a lot of the paperwork for him in his quest to avoid Edmund. He signed off on the schedule and read several reports. Hmmm— reports of trade caravans and travelers being accosted by brigands on the border. At least two of the documents had fatality reports attached. He made a note to mention it to King Frederic in regards to setting up those patrol routes. But he could move some men into place for now, to hopefully stop the predation. He summoned a guard and asked him to round up the men he wanted for this and send them to his office. A note went with a page to ask permission to borrow one of the royal balloons. The faster that he could get men into place, the faster he could stop it. 

He wanted to lead the mission himself, but he couldn’t— not with court looming this evening. He debated doing it anyway, just to get out of the obligation, but reluctantly concluded he’d hear it from both his dad and his father-in-law for doing so. A knock on the door heralded the first of his arrivals and he called them to enter. “Stan, Pete. You ready to go knock some highwaymen’s heads together?”

“Sir!” they replied in perfect synchronization. 

“Good, as soon as the rest of the crew gets here, I’ll brief you on the situation as reported. I’m going to send Vlad and Big Nose with you. They know that area and Vlad, at least, knows about accosting caravans, so we’re going to use that knowledge. I’m trusting you to listen to their advice, am I clear?”

“Sir— are you putting one of us in charge of the mission?” Stan asked, one of his eyebrows climbing.

“Both of you, technically. Stan, you’ve been doing so much better at issuing commands to the rookies and it really shows, and Pete, honestly, your grasp of tactics is really impressive— though you really shouldn’t leave these lying around where anyone can find them—” Eugene picked up a sheaf of papers, fanning them out to display the tactical sketches of troop movements and notes scribbled around them. “Sunshine found these in the library, and you’re lucky she recognized your handwriting. Though I’d really rather not see plans for what to do if the Castle is stormed— because frankly that is a possibility I’d rather not think on, okay?”

Pete took the papers, his face a little red, and tucked them into his belt pouch. “We got caught by surprise a couple of times, sir— and I just didn’t want to see it happen again.”

“Good man. I’m not faulting you, I just really, really hope we are done with invasions for my lifetime.” Eugene cocked a finger at him. “But you keep thinking up those plans— just make sure you give them to Cap afterwards. We don’t want them getting into the wrong hands.”

“Yes, sir.”

“So like I said, I want the two of you to work together— with advice from Vlad and Big Nose— and come up with a way to stop these raids. Clear, Lieutenants?”

He watched both men’s eyes widen as they took in the jump in rank. They snapped to full attention and saluted. “Yes, Sir!!”

When the rest of the men arrived, he gave them every detail that he had, handing the reports over to his new lieutenants. He was in the middle of the briefing when a page brought word that a balloon was prepped and waiting. “Stan, you’ve got some of our best archers with you, make sure everyone is assigned a crossbow and two full quivers of bolts each. Pete, you’re in charge of provisioning. While I’m hoping you can deal with this in the next couple of days, you might be out there longer. Provision accordingly and I’ve got a writ for you to take to the treasurer, so you can buy supplies if you are stuck out there for a while. The rest of you get to packing, I want you gone within the hour.”

The men saluted and filed out. When the tramp of their boots had faded into silence, Eugene allowed himself a heartfelt sigh, slumping down in his chair. While details were still sketchy, there had been deaths reported, so shoot to kill was authorized, and he had made sure his new lieutenants knew that. They couldn’t have brigands preying on traders or Coranan citizens. He only hoped they could handle the situation as quickly as possible.

But now he found himself at loose ends. Having delegated the mission and Cap handling most of the paperwork left him oddly without anything else planned to fill his day. Rapunzel was tied up with diplomatic training for a group of dignitaries arriving next week, and he had already planned the rotation of the guards around that event. Frustrated, he stifled a yawn behind his fist, lack of sleep wearing thin. He debated a nap until lunch, but memories of the nightmares killed that idea fast.

Rising from his seat, he went to the small window. It looked down over the training fields and the stableyard, and as he had thought the first time he had stood here— Cap was a man of duty through and through. The only thing that outweighed his duty was his love for his daughter. Speaking of, there Cass was in the stableyard, working Fidella in a circle, like she was lunging her, only without lunge rein or whip. Instead she used her hands and short whistles to get the mare to move from walk to trot and trot to canter. The chestnut mare moved easily, one ear always canted toward Cass for her next command.

Eugene was reminded of Edmund’s tale of meeting and falling in love with Melisande, how she had trained what her father had considered an untrainable beast. Not that Fidella was an untrainable horse. Like Max— she was smart and clever enough to handle tasks and trials that most horses would have no part of. But it was the easy way Cass worked with her, longstanding partners— like he and Max had become after their first tumultuous meeting, that brought the story to mind.

Glancing down, he noticed the terrace about two stories below and beyond it the roof of the stable, and beside that, the lower roof of the tack shed. Maybe he needed some exercise— for old time’s sake. Chuckling, he swung himself out the window, fingers holding on to the sill until he could get a decent foothold on the wall. From there it was easy to flip himself down to the terrace and vault over the railing to drop another few feet to the roof of the stable, and run across the tiles to the lower roof of the tack shed, springing from that to the packed dirt of the stable yard, where he bowed flamboyantly to Cass and Fidella, who had stopped to watch him with raised eyebrows.

“Planning to go roof-running sometime soon?” Cass asked dryly. “Because I might need to report you to the guard.”

Eugene struck a pose. “You know I’ve given up my wicked ways. But you never know when those skills might come in handy.” His smirk dropped as he remembered the last time those skills had been useful, but he shook it away and pasted a smile in its place. “Have the doctor’s cleared you for riding yet? Because if they have, want to go on a ride?”

“I— don’t know. I’ve been putting off going back for an exam.”

“Cass—”

“I don’t want them to say I’m not fit for duty, okay?” she burst out and then turned quickly away, putting Fidella between them.

“Cass— wait, is something wrong?” Eugene dodged around the mare, who was looking at her rider in confusion.

Cass flinched when he touched her shoulder, “Everything, okay? I can barely bend, I can’t draw my sword, half the time I need help getting up out of a chair and it won’t  _ fucking stop hurting!” _

Eugene caught her arm. “Okay, let’s go.”

“Where?”

“To see the doctor. Because while a lot of that is just recovering from a major wound, the fact that you’re in pain all the time isn’t. So move those legs, soldier.”

Cass dug her heels in. “Not under your command.”

“Do not make me pick you up, Cass. Because I will. And I will carry you through the castle like an invalid. In front of everyone.”

“You wouldn’t dare!”

“Wanna bet, Dragon Lady?”

“You are not picking me up!” Cass retorted, backing away from him, and tugging futilely at the arm he still had a grip on. Either he had gotten stronger, or she was weaker than she thought, because she wasn’t able to break his hold.

“It’s two against one, Cass— so just stop this or I really will carry your snarky ass in there.”

“Two—? Unless you're counting your overgrown ego as a separate person—”

"Fidella's going to back me up, isn't she?" Eugene shot her a smug grin.

Cass looked to her horse for support, but found none. Fidella was firmly in her brother's camp on this matter, ducking her head and giving Cass a firm shove in the back with her nose. She stumbled forward and Eugene bent and caught her up in his arms. “Now, it’s the infirmary for you, Princess Porcupine.”

Cass snarled. “You already used that one! Now put me down, dumbass!”

“It’s a good one, fits your personality. And I am not putting you down unless you agree to walk into the infirmary with me.”

“I  _ will _ stab you!”

“No you won’t.”

“Wanna bet?”

“With what, your pointed wit?” Eugene jerked his head to the left.

Cass saw Fidella standing guard over every single weapon she had been wearing, even her hidden daggers.

Eugene grinned, “Still got it.”

“You pickpocketed my weapons?!”

“I wouldn’t have to if you would just settle down and go see the doctors. So, are you walking, or am I carrying you like the whiny baby you’re being?”

“Put me down!” She seethed. She considered fighting him, but knew that he would drop her and honestly, she didn’t think she could catch herself before she landed on her ass in the dirt.

“Only if you go down to the infirmary with me without an argument. Otherwise—” He took a step toward the castle.

“Fine— fine, just put me down!”

Eugene let her down, steadying her as she caught her balance. She considered shoving him away for the indignity, but at this point it wasn’t worth it. “What if they say I’m not fit for duty?” She hated that her voice came out plaintive.

“Then we make do until you are.” Eugene’s voice was reassuring. “But let’s get you fit for duty and if that means going down to see the doctor—” He gestured toward the castle.

Too tired to fight him any longer, she glanced at Fidella. “Guard.”

The mare whickered softly. No one would touch her weapons until she got back, or they’d risk losing the hand that tried.

Cass let Eugene herd her down to the infirmary. She hated being this weak.

Eugene thoughtfully turned his back as she grudgingly pulled off her tunic so the doctor could get a look at her wound. 

The doctor hummed thoughtfully. “The tissue is inflamed, but thankfully not infected. And is this a bruise?” The doctor prodded her tender abdomen carefully.

Cass hissed. “I got in the way of an elbow the other day.”

“Not a wise move. It looks like you have been putting too much stress on the injury— and yourself. More than that, if you keep aggravating it, there’s every chance it won’t heal properly. You will have to be careful.”

“But—”

“No buts. You want to heal, you stop stressing yourself to this point.” She got a stern glare. “I’ll give you some more painkillers, to take at every meal and before bed. I want to see you back here in a week's time to see how it’s doing.” He rose and went to a shelf, pulling down a packet that she knew from experience held more of the painkillers she had been taking, and a wax-sealed stone jar. “Rub this into the scar twice a day to keep the skin elastic. All the tension of your muscles is risking tearing the new scar tissue open, and if that happens, it will cause more stiffness and open you up to a new infection. Light exercise only until I say otherwise.”

“Is horseback riding light enough?” Eugene asked suddenly, startling Cass. He’s been so uncharacteristically quiet, she’d all but forgotten he was there.

“Provided you use a mounting block. Pulling yourself up in the saddle will only stress the wound more.”

“I haven’t needed a mounting block since I was seven!”

“Cass—” Eugene’s tone was full of exasperation.

“... fine.” she subsided.

“I won’t keep you from your duty, child, but you’ll do the princess more good if you are in good health to do it.” The doctor scolded lightly as Cass pulled her tunic back on. 

She refrained from grumbling at him like she really wanted to do, instead saying. “You can turn around now, Fitzherbert, I’m decent.”

“Entirely debatable, Dragon Lady.” But he offered her a grin and a hand to pull her up off the examination table. “Well, you’ve been cleared for that ride, so let’s go.”

She stuffed her medicines in her belt pouch and allowed him to pull her up. She didn’t want to admit how much she needed that hand up. “Do you have a destination in mind or did you just need to blow the stink off of you?”

“Funny. How bout the Duckling? We missed getting that meal there, y’know, what with—” he waved at her stomach.

“Without Raps?”

“She’s tied up in diplomatic stuff for the envoys coming next week. We’ll sneak her out later.” He grinned conspiratorially.

Cass found herself grinning back. Maybe having him as a brother wasn’t as bad as she had thought, if he was willing to help her abscond with Rapunzel for much needed breaks. Knight she might be, but that meant knowing when her princess needed an escape too.

They returned to the stableyard and Eugene picked up her weapons for her. While she was replacing them on her person, he went into the stable and returned with an already saddled Max and Fidella’s tack, which earned him a pleased whinney from the mare. 

She moved to take the saddle from him, but he pointedly shoved the bitless bridle at her and saddled Fidella himself.

Cass growled at him while poor Fidella just looked confused. Sighing, she stroked the mare’s nose and slipped the bridle up and over her ears, buckling it carefully. Eugene had wandered off somewhere by the time she was done, so she took it upon herself to check the saddle cinches, making sure they were properly fastened. Eugene came back with a two step block that he must have scrounged from the deepest corner of the tack shed, to judge by the layer of dust on it. He thumped it down next to Fidella and promptly started sneezing from the cloud of dust the motion sent into the air.

Max and Fidella whinnied laughter while Cass chuckled.

Eugene glared at her when he finally stopped sneezing and beat dust spots out of his sleeves, causing Max, who was nearest him, to sneeze too.

Cass snorted before moving Fidella into position beside the block. The mare looked at her in confusion, to which she grumbled, “Doctor’s orders.” She used the block and swung herself into the saddle, while Eugene finally managed to get in Max’s saddle.

Cass signaled Fidella to a gentle canter, reveling in the fact that she was out and moving again. Sure, she hurt— but just to be able to ride was a joy after spending so long in an infirmary cot.

Eugene reined Max up beside her. “No racing today, Dragon Lady. No faster than a canter, Fidella, you hear me?”

Fidella whinnied and bobbed her head.

Cass rolled her eyes at him. “I don’t need nursemaiding, Fitzherbert.”

“Couldn’t prove it by me.”

“I have my knives back.”

“Don’t make me break out the ‘giving yourself time to heal’ spiel that the doctor gave you.” Eugene shot her an unimpressed look.

Cass sighed. “Fine, fine. Now are you going to keep talking or do I actually get to enjoy my ride?”

“Rude, Princess Pitviper. I am the best conversationalist in at least six of the kingdoms.”

“All of that talking to yourself must be useful for something.” Cass retorted, hiding a smile. 

“At least I don’t scare nobles into wetting themselves.”

“It was one time and tell me he wasn’t asking for it.”

“I don’t know. All I got was the order to keep you well away from him while you were visiting last year.”

“That probably only helped in his filthy little mind.”

“Wha—?” Eugene felt red growing in his face. “What did that scumbag say?”

“I don't know if I should tell you," Cass slowed Fidella to a trot to side-eye him. “You're starting to look a little like a tomato there, Fitzherbert."

_ “What did he say?" _

Cass halted Fidella. Confused, Max trotted on a few paces more before stopping and turning back to where they stood. Eugene was seething. “What did that slimy little bastard say?” He almost instinctively stood up in the stirrups, looming over her as they came beside her.

Cass stretched out a booted foot and prodded the back of his knee, causing Eugene to sit down in the saddle a little faster than was comfortable. “See, this is why I didn’t mention it.”   
  
“Cassandra!” Eugene glared. “What did he say about you?”

“It wasn’t  _ just _ about me, Fitzherbert. Let’s just say the smarmy little asshole had his own ideas of why I spent so much time visiting with Rapunzel— and you.”

Eugene gaped like a dying fish. “He— what— how the— You’re  _ my  _ **_sister!”_ ** he sputtered.   
  
“At the time, I wasn’t.” She raised a hand. “And whether you said I was like one to you or not that wasn’t going to keep his dirty little mind from going there.”

Eugene’s hands tightened on the reins. “I’m going to kill him.”

“Killing nobles is a bad thing, Fitzherbert. Unless you— no, nevermind.”

“Cass!”

“You could kill him if you caught him in outright treason, yes, but—”

“But what?”   
  
“You know, when I was laid up in the infirmary, Raps kept telling me all these tales of bad things happening to a certain feral rhino man. Come to find out they were all true—”

A slow, devious smirk worked its way across Eugene’s face. “I like the way you think, sis.”

Cass found herself laughing as she kicked Fidella back into a canter. “We’ll talk about it over lunch. You’re buying.”

“Hey!”

~

  
  


It was early afternoon when they got back to the castle, flush with good food (for all his other shortcomings, Cass would admit Lance was a phenomenal cook) and plans. Cass made to swing down from the saddle but a hoofstomp from Fidella and a sharp  _ “A-hem,” _ from Eugene made her stop and roll her eyes. She waited until Fidella sidled up to the block and slid down out of the saddle. While she was feeling much better, she knew it was mostly the effects of the dose she had taken with lunch.

Eugene sent both horses into the stables to be unsaddled and groomed and glanced over at her. “What say we plot to steal my wife away from her tutors this afternoon?”

“While you know I am all for that, don’t you have real work to do?”

Eugene shrugged. “Cap— well, he’s obviously busying himself with paperwork to lay low— whether from Dad or Queen Arianna, I don’t know, but I have literally signed three forms since this morning and nothing else. Two of those were for the mission I sent a troop of guards out on— Caravans and travellers being assaulted and raided near the border, before you ask— and I have finalized schedules for almost three weeks in advance. To sum it all up, nope. I am completely at loose ends— at least until time for evening court. Dad’s apparently bugged King Frederic into having me play Prince tonight.” He shuddered.

Cass mirrored the gesture. “Ugh— I’m glad that’s not me.”

“Next time it might be. Remember Dad getting so bent outta shape when you didn’t sit with us at dinner?” Eugene led the way to the door into the castle from the stableyard, both of them pausing to knock any dirt off their boots before entering.

“Don’t remind me,” she groaned. “I couldn’t eat at all, sitting up there at the high table, with people looking at me like that.”

“Yeah, I’m better about it because I’ve been there since— well, since the King unbent enough to let me sit at Rapunzel’s side, but that was just nerve-wracking.”

“The first couple of months, I think he mostly thought you were going to rob the place blind.”

He scoffed at her. “I thought that was you and your Dad.”

“Dad maybe—” Cass pursed her lips. “I thought you were just an arrogant prig who was using Rapunzel to live the cushy life he always wanted.”

“Rude!”

“It was before I really understood how much you loved her, you ass,” Cass shoved him. “Admittedly— neither of us were willing to compromise— until a certain princess made us see that giving a little was better.”

Eugene chuckled. “Maybe we should turn her loose on Dad and Cap.”

Surprised, Cass laughed aloud. “Maybe we should. Heavens know, I don’t think that my yelling did any good.”

“It did. Haven’t heard a peep out of either of them since.”

“I think that’s more Queen Arianna’s doing than mine.”

“You don’t give yourself enough credit, Dragon Lady. You’re scary when you’re mad. And maybe being dressed down by their own child finally got through.”

“One can only hope.” Cass checked the time on a grandfather clock as they passed it. “Rapunzel will still be with her tutors for another hour and a half.”

“After that—?” Eugene prompted. “It’s no fun to steal her away, if we’re not getting her out of something.”

“What makes you think I keep track of her schedule anymore? I haven’t been her lady in waiting for years now.”

“Cass, Cass, Cass—” Eugene tsked, “You’re her knight. You know exactly where she is at any given time so you can protect her. I may not have the rank, but I know the rules, same as you.”

The look she gave him was sour, but finally a laugh escaped her. “She’ll thank us for stealing her. She has deportment with Mme Lafleur.”

“The one who keeps trying to make her wear shoes? Whose name literally means _ ‘the flower’? _ Is she even really French?”

“The same. Also the same one who screams and climbs on a chair whenever she sees Pascal so has forbidden him in the room with Rapunzel.” Cass snorted. “And you know how that ruins Rapunzel’s concentration, because—”

“She gets all worried about him, yeah.” Eugene chuckled. “She will thank us for absconding with her.”

“Where are we sneaking her off to? Another picnic?”

“Perfect, but I think this one we’ll take over near Old Corona. We want her to actually be out of reach for a bit.” He shrugged. “Like you said, she really does need a break. She’ll be able to tackle things better when she’s not bored and frustrated.”

“Point.” Cass mused. “Okay. things that need doing— We’ll need the horses tacked and ready.”

“Easy enough to have a stablehand take care of it.” Eugene ticked off on a finger. 

“Picnic hamper packed.”

“I can manage that one. Easy to charm food out of the cook’s helpers if you know how.”

“Then those parts are yours. I’ll handle a distraction to get Raps out.”

“Are you sure? I mean—”

“I’m fine, Fitzherbert. All I have to do is put the pieces into play. Just be prepared for the screaming—” She flipped him a cheery salute and headed down to Varian’s lab.

“I don’t think I like this plan if it involves screaming, Cass!” he called out behind her.

Five minutes and a promise to fill him in on the details later and she had a satchel filled with Varian’s goo traps and the dissolving agent. She slung it over her shoulder and ducked outside into the gardens, whistling for Owl.

After a few minutes he drifted down out of a tree, giving himself a disgruntled shake after landing on her glove. “Don’t give me that,” she scolded. “I know you slept a good part of the night, you were still sleeping on that damned thing when I got up.”

He gave her an annoyed glare but subsided.  _ ‘That damned thing’ _ was now a permanent resident of her desk after an attempt to put it away in the wardrobe had resulted in several nipped fingers and a bird of prey sitting square in the middle of her bed with a murderous glare when she had tried to go to bed until she had restored the skull to the desk.

“I know somewhere nearby there’s a pretty healthy colony of harvest mice, if your castings are anything to go by. I want you to lead me to it.”

Owl tipped his head almost entirely upside down and made a questioning sound.

She scratched the top of his head with a fingertip, chuckling. “We’re not holed up in some damp cave for the better part of a week without supplies— and frankly I hope that never happens again, because while you might like the taste of mice, I sure don’t. I just need to catch a few.”

Owl chirred softly and took to the air, flying in slow circles so she could keep up on foot. At last he led her to a corner of the meadow where the guard horses grazed, not far from a small silo full of grain for them. She could see several burrow entrances. Kneeling, she stuffed knotted grass plugs into all but a few. Clearing grass from around one of the larger entrances, she dropped a handful of wood shavings and an oil-soaked rag there. Owl, perched on the fence nearby, watched her until she whistled. He circled above her as she held out two of Varian’s sticky bombs, letting him grab one in each talon. “I’m going to smoke them out. When you see them, drop one of these on them.”

He hooted agreement and circled as she lit the rag. The oil smoked as it caught and she used the edge of her cloak to fan the smoke into the burrow entrance. In a matter of moments she heard squeaking in the grass and Owl dropped first one globe, and then the other. Cass drowned her tiny fire with water from her canteen, before pushing herself to her feet. Thirteen mice were trapped in Varian’s goo. Carefully dripping the dissolving agent, she freed them and stuffed them into a mesh bag, well all except the one that bit her and made a run for it. Owl made a snack of that one. Tying off the top of the bag, she stuffed it in the satchel and trotted back toward the castle. 

She spotted Eugene coming out of the kitchen with a full hamper and waved. He nodded and headed for the stable. Rapunzel should be getting away from her tutors any moment now so she needed to time it right. Untying the knot, she held the mouth of the bag at the crack under a certain door, and gave it a shake. Twelve mice fled into the room on the other side of the door. Cass scrambled away quickly. Just about...

A high, falsetto shriek split the air just as Rapunzel came down the hall. Hiding a grin, Cass grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the way of the guards running to see what the disturbance was. When they passed, she gave Rapunzel a sly grin and grabbed her wrist. “Run.”

Laughing, they pelted out of the castle and to the stableyard where Eugene was waiting with Max and Fidella. Fidella stood by the mounting block and Cass was in the saddle in a matter of moments while Eugene pulled Rapunzel up behind him.

When they had put some distance between them and the castle, he glanced back at Cass. “What did you do?”

She laughed. “Mice in Mme Lafleur’s classroom. She’s probably hanging from the rafters by now.”

Eugene laughed for a full minute before he caught his breath and grinned at her. “I like your style, Dragon Lady.”

Rapunzel giggled, wrapping her arms around Eugene’s waist. “My heroes!”

They rode until they reached one of Rapunzel’s favorite spots to stop, a riverbank heavily shaded with willows. Rapunzel slid down and splashed into the water, laughing gleefully. Cass went to swing out of the saddle, but Eugene clearing his throat loudly stopped her. She glared down at him, standing at her stirrup. “I can—”

“Doctor’s orders.” He cut her off, hands up to help her down.

“I hate this,” She seethed, but finally allowed him to help her slide out of the saddle.

Rapunzel came splashing back. “So the doctor said you could ride again?”

“Provided she uses a mounting block or a little help from her friends.” Eugene answered for her, ignoring her sour look. “She’s getting better.”

He didn’t mention her aggravating the injury, and for that she was grateful. She didn’t think she could deal with Rapunzel being all worried again. Eugene and Rapunzel unsaddled the horses so they could relax, while Cass spread the blanket on the mossy bank. She lowered herself to the ground with a hiss, and at an admonishing look from Eugene, dug a dose of her medication out of her pouch. Eugene handed her a mug and a canteen of water, and she sighed heavily and mixed and took the dose. Rapunzel had poured her a mug of apple cider and she happily washed the taste out of her mouth with it.

Rapunzel leaned against Eugene’s shoulder, setting Pascal down on the grass so he could hunt up his own lunch. “Thank you for the rescue. I’ve had my head stuffed full of titles and proper forms of greeting until it’s all a jumble. A break is just what I needed.”

“We live to serve,” Eugene bent at the waist in a mock bow, dislodging her from his shoulder.

Rapunzel laughed at him and began to unpack food from the hamper. “I’m a little surprised you could get away.”

Eugene rolled his shoulders in a shrug and explained about Cap having eliminated all his paperwork. “I literally assigned a single mission today, and then—” he waved his hands in the air. “Pfftt— nothing to do.”

Rapunzel smiled at his theatrics. “I can’t say that I mind. It’s not all that often when we don’t have other obligations. Well, I do— but thank you for the rescue anyway.”

“You can return the favor by keeping me from screwing up tonight in Evening court. Dad’s apparently convinced your dad that I need to sit in as Prince-consort.”

“Fun.” Cass added, accepting a plate from Rapunzel. “I hope he doesn’t try to convince him that I need to sit in sometime. I probably would wind up doing something unpleasant.”

“Cass—”

“There’s a reason I told you I’m not cut out to be a princess, Raps. You and Eugene— you have the patience to deal with bickering nobles and petty squabbles. I— never have. My temper is—” She set her plate down and clenched her hands.  _ “Uncertain—  _ at the best of times, to borrow a phrase from my dad— and you have to admit, I’m not exactly having those best times lately.”

“Slight understatement, Sister Stabby.” Eugene leaned back on his hands. “Frankly, none of us are.”

Rapunzel sighed in agreement. “You’re not kidding. You’re not alone in wishing things could go back to something like they were, Cass.”

“Something like they were?” Eugene raised an eyebrow at his wife’s statement.

She pursed her lips. “If they went back entirely to what they were, Cass wouldn’t be here. I like having you both close again. I’ve missed it being the three of us, the way it used to be— though I really like the way you’ve been getting along lately, now—”

“That we’re actually brother and sister, right, Sunshine?”

Rapunzel giggled a little. “Yeah. I mean, you always bickered, but there were times during that first year or so that I thought you were going to kill each other.”

“As if he could take me.” Cass snorted, picking her plate back up. “Besides, I wouldn’t have killed him. Locked him up, oh, gods yes— just to get him to shut up, sometimes.” She popped a bite of cheese in her mouth.

“Honestly, Sister Serpentine? There were a couple of times I thought you really wanted me dead— and that’s not counting the crazy, blue-haired phase.”

“Ha ha—” Cass’s voice was flat. “No. I wanted you to stop being an annoying asshole with an ego bigger than the entire island, but I didn’t want you dead. Rapunzel loved you, and frankly the thought of her mourning you makes me sick.”

“See, I knew you cared about him!” Rapunzel cheered.

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Cass retorted, throwing a grape at Rapunzel. “It was how it would affect you that I cared about.”

“You wound me, Cass.” Eugene flamboyantly pressed a hand to his chest.

“No, but that’s still an option.” She pointed at his nose with a spreader borrowed from one of the jam jars.

Rapunzel giggled merrily, flopping down on the blanket with her head in Eugene;s lap.

He looked down at her with his lips quirked. “Sunshine, I love you but that’s gonna make it hard for either of us to actually eat.”

Rapunzel grinned up at him. “You could always feed me?” She opened her mouth and peeped like a baby bird.

“One: then I wouldn't be able to eat, and two: please _never_ do that again.”

“Why?”

“Same reason I’m gonna ask you not to do that again, Raps.” Cass shuddered. “Bad memories.”

It took Rapunzel a moment. “Oh, ohh... I’m sorry.” Her own memories of the few moments when she had been subsumed by the simple mind of the bird were hazy at best, but for the entirety of the next two days, Cass had refused to let her out of her sight, and Eugene had checked on her with obsessive regularity, as if afraid she would vanish on them. It had made for an awkward few days after that encounter.

Eugene tapped a finger on the tip of her nose. “We’re good, sweetheart.”

Rapunzel sat up and kissed his cheek, glancing over at Cass and reaching towards her afterwards.

Cass sighed and took her hand. “It’s not a big deal, Raps, just remembering it isn’t the most fun.”

They all fell silent after that, at least until Pascal broke the solemness by popping up out of the grass with the brown wings of a moth sticking out of either side of his mouth, giving him the look of someone with a long mustache. Rapunzel giggled while Eugene made an exaggerated gagging sound. “Ugh, did you really have to do that, frog?”

  
  


~

  
  


Eugene was bored half out of his mind. Seated beside Rapunzel in a smaller version of Frederic’s throne, he might have dozed off, if it weren’t for the dozens of eyes focused in his direction. It was even more nerve-wracking than the other night at dinner. Cass had shifted her station until she was between the two thrones, right at his elbow. 

Thankfully King Frederic hadn’t called on him for anything, only acknowledging him with a nod when they had first taken their places. Edmund was on the other side, seated quietly, with his two guards behind him. He seemed content, a half-smile on his face as he listened to the querants before the thrones.

Eugene shifted a little, resettling the circlet on his head. Rapunzel had insisted he wear it, though he felt it was an affectation he didn’t need. Like Cass, he was content to leave it somewhere else. Though honestly, he was a little glad to be wearing it when a rather officious duke was presented before the thrones, one who had previously looked down on him for his checkered past. This time he gave him a proper bow, one which Eugene returned with a dignified nod,

“Duke Stikton— more like Duke Stick-up-his—” Cass muttered under her breath behind him. Eugene nearly laughed aloud, and Rapunzel was hiding an amused smile behind her hand. He turned his head enough to glance at Cass. Her face was perfectly composed.

Rapunzel leaned over, resting a hand on his arm and kissed his cheek. “I should have warned you,” she breathed so softly he could barely hear her. “It’s a game Cass and I play. Keeps me from getting too bored.”

“And me from wanting to kill some of these snobby nobles.” Cass added, her voice also a thin whisper.

“I think I like it.” Eugene added with a smile.

Cass smirked. “Rules of the game. Don’t let anyone outside of the three of us hear you. Oh, and try not to laugh out loud.”

Eugene nearly lost when Rapunzel, his sweet, wonderful wife— calmly called the Duke and Duchess of Sympharia the Simpering Simpletons after nearly five minutes of them gushing at the King and Queen. He had to fake a coughing fit to cover his laughter. Okay, maybe this wasn’t so bad—

But all good things are destined to come to an end.

Eugene rose to his feet at the first sign of a commotion at the entrance. 

Behind him, Cass had her sword out and was moving to block anything approaching the dais. Eugene held up a hand to stop her, recognizing one of the voices as Pete's, though he had never heard the guard sound so angry.

Pete and Stan emerged from the crowd, a bound man in bloodstained clothes struggling between them. Pete looked like he'd been on the wrong end of a fight, but his lean face was set in a snarl uncharacteristic to his usual demeanor. Between them, they hauled the man forward and flung him to his knees at the foot of the dais.

Frederic rose to his feet, but Eugene stalked forward first. "Report."

Pete was seething, so Stan took the lead, describing them finding the group of brigands in a full pitched battle with the guards of a caravan before they had even come in to land. Stan had ordered the archers to fire while several of them had dropped ropes and joined the battle on the ground. There had been nearly fifty of the highwaymen, though the archers were whittling the number down steadily. Stan gestured at the bound man. “This scum ordered the retreat, but—”

Pete interrupted, his bruised face red with rage. “He  _ knifed _ a little girl in the back and flung her body at us to give himself time to escape,” he snarled. “He killed her in cold blood in front of her parents!” He looked ready to beat on the scruffy man at his feet, fists clenched and teeth bared in an enraged snarl.

Stan put a calming hand on his partner's shoulder. “Pete took him down, and we rounded up the rest of them in short order, to bring back to Corona for sentencing, but this bastard wants to—”

The bound man raised his bound hands entreatingly. “I beg clemency, Your Majesty! We are poor men and we have had to resort to thievery to feed our children with no help from the crown!”

“You dare—” Pete fumed.

“I see,” Arianna put in, her voice a level tone that anyone who knew her would understand was a sign of danger. “The crown will not help, is it? There are no less than thirty programs my daughter and I have implemented in the past three years to help out the poor in our kingdom; from aid in finding employment to making sure children are fed. My son-in-law knows well the lengths hunger can drive one to, so we have worked to eliminate it, and yet— none of these kingdom-wide programs have come to  _ your _ aid?”

Frederic rose, his face a hard, angry mask. “You claim that our efforts to help have done nothing, so you resort to thievery and wanton murder to feed your families? I will not accept that as an excuse! It does not justify the harm and death you have caused!” Frederic’s voice was just short of a roar, but still so full of controlled rage that even the bound man flinched from it. “I will not allow you to use family as an excuse for such brutality. You have caused enough death and despair. I will not suffer a monster like you, who claims ‘family’ as justification for his acts of murder, to live.” He turned his hard, angry gaze on Eugene. “Captain, I sentence him to execution. I expect the orders drawn up by morning court. I leave it to you to determine the disposition of the remaining survivors, though If they are anything like this scum, I expect most of them will be joining this monster at the gallows.”

Eugene could only nod numbly, feeling like his grasp on sanity was slipping away. Hadn’t he done the same thing— claiming family for justification of his torture of the assassin— for the murder of the priest? Was he—?

“Take him away,” Frederic commanded, his tone still full of fury. 

But Frederic’s angry voice could not drown out the sweet, seductive voice of Gothel whispering from his dream.  **_"Of course_ ** _ you killed her and destroyed everything you loved. After all, you're a  _ **_monster._ ** _ That's what we  _ **_do."_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Important note:** While I hate to do this, this story will be going on Hiatus until after the New Year. I work in retail and am bordering on mental burnout at this time of year. I promise the story will resume in the new year, but for now, I will be unable to update it until then. 
> 
> Next chapter: Plans are made for the heirs. Eyes might be the windows to the soul, but sometimes the shutters are closed.


	20. Compromises, Conundrums and other Questions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back all. I know I went a little longer than the new year but I needed to work out some of the issues this section of the story had. In all honesty, this chapter and the next are very heavy emotionally, so it was a hard write getting the characters into their roles. But we're moving in on a critical story point, and soon we'll be finishing this arc and moving onto the most exciting part.

Rapunzel looked up at a tap on the door. She glanced over at Eugene, still burrowed under the comforter. He hadn't even stirred when she rose to start getting ready for the day. He must have been tired. He'd barely said anything after the evening's court, only kissing her goodnight and curling into her embrace. 

Sighing, she rose from her seat at the vanity and padded to the door. Faith dropped into a curtsey and offered an envelope. She recognized Arianna's handwriting on the missive, and thanking Faith politely, took it to the balcony to read in the gloomy morning light. It looked like a storm was brewing off the coast, and she wrinkled her nose at the looming clouds before squinting at the neat loops of her mother’s writing. 

_ Dearest,  _

_ I think we may have come up with something that will... if not please everyone, be an equitable solution for the time being, until we come up with something that will not force you, your knight and your husband to be separated and constantly miserable. It is by no means a perfect solution, but it will afford a measure of time to come up with something better. Would you have Eugene and Cassandra attend us in the throne room after breakfast?  _

_ With love, Arianna _

Rapunzel chewed on her bottom lip for a moment. She knew what her mom had been hunting for a solution to. As confirmed heirs to the throne of the Dark Kingdom, it was expected that they spend time in the kingdom of their birth. And neither of them had any desire to. 

Cass was— still struggling to define herself with the knowledge of her birthright as compared to the life she had been raised to. She had battled so long with trying to find a place and a peace after the incident with the Moonstone. Eugene— had his own issues with being heir to a kingdom he had never known, or desired.

And Rapunzel herself... she did not want to lose either of them. She was not complete without their support. 

Sighing, she went to poke her husband awake. She hoped that whatever her mother had in mind would work.

~

Arianna padded into the throne room on Frederic’s arm, to find Rapunzel, Eugene and Cassandra standing in a small huddle near the main doors. Rapunzel was talking earnestly, the cream-colored paper of Arianna’s note clenched in one hand. Cassandra had a doubtful, pinched expression on her face and every now and again shook her head. Eugene said nothing, his lips pressed together tightly.

While Arianna admitted to herself it was not a perfect solution, it would not be as traumatic for them as tearing them apart would have been. Because no matter which way she turned it, the picture remained the same. The Dark Kingdom needed an heir. She had struggled long and hard to come up with this much of a compromise. While it would please no one, least of all Edmund— it was the lesser of evils— and would give her time to figure out something else. At least Frederic had been helpful in this, pulling down tome after tome of past situations that might have a bearing on this one and ruminating on his own childhood memories.

She let Frederic hand her down into her throne before taking his own. Edmund stood to the left of Frederic’s throne. His expression was brooding.

Frederic waved them forward. Rapunzel linked her fingers with Eugene’s and her arm around Cassandra’s elbow. She was very clearly determined not to let them face whatever she had in mind alone. Stubborn and loyal to a fault.

Arianna hated how nervous and uncertain they looked, standing before the thrones like children caught in the wrong might stand before a parent. Eugene had schooled his face into calmness, but the darting of his eyes gave him away. Cassandra stood beside Rapunzel, outwardly calm, but one hand near the hilt of her sword and the other almost unconsciously cradling her injury. With all the stress of the past few days it had to be paining her. 

Hopefully, this would ease both of their minds, at least a little.

“You asked to see us, your Majesties?” Eugene took the lead, since Cassandra looked more like she was going to either throw up or pass out. His face was pale and there was a look in his eyes that was a little frightened.

“We did,” Frederic nodded. He turned to Arianna. “I’ll let you take over here, my love, since it was your idea.”

“We all worked on it together.” Arianna smiled but leaned forward to speak to the three at the step of the dais. “We’ve come to an equitable compromise on how to proceed.”

“With what, your majesty?” Eugene asked, but his eyes were dark and worried. His hand was squeezing Rapunzel’s so tight it had to hurt, but she showed no sign of any discomfort. 

Arianna ached for him. For all of her children, blood or not.

“On the fact that the two heirs to the throne of our sister kingdom are both Coranan citizens with a vested interest in remaining here.” Arianna said. Behind her, Edmund looked somewhat disgruntled, but kept his mouth shut. “We have come up with a temporary solution until we are able to seek out a better one.”

“Indeed?” Cassandra said through gritted teeth. Arianna could see the tension in her. Of all of them, she was the most convinced she had no place as royalty— though it was her brother who had less experience.

“Both of you will be spending time in the Dark kingdom, three months at a go, alternating seasons so you can see both kingdoms at both best and worst. While there, you will work on the rebuilding of a ravaged kingdom, and learning about your lands and people. While here, you will learn lessons in statecraft and diplomacy.”

Edmund shifted and opened his mouth as if he would say something. Arianna did not give him time.

"You see, it's a very old tradition in Corona." Arianna said, her voice as calm as they were not. "Fostering the heirs of kingdoms that are smaller or do not have full courts like this, to give them a better grounding in politics and diplomacy. And you have witnessed yourself that this is a grounding they will need, Edmund.”

Edmund shifted uncomfortably. “Yes— but—” 

“This way they will learn all that they need to know for governing. It will take time— time and effort on all our parts, but for now, it is the best way to proceed, for all of us.”

While she was not happy with it, Cass could admit that it was something. Something better than the fear that she and Eugene shared. That this would tear them all apart. They had not spoken of it, but they both knew the fear... and that it was one they both dreaded. 

Cass muttered low under her breath to Rapunzel. “I don’t know whether to thank her for coming up with this or be furious that she thinks we need so much training.”

“Let’s be honest, Cass, your idea of diplomacy is stab it till it stops twitching.” Rapunzel muttered back just as quietly. “And as much as I love my husband, there are situations he cannot charm his way out of without consequences."

Cass stifled a snort. She knew Rapunzel had the right of it, but still—

“How long will this take?” Edmund asked at last, his broad face concerned.

“It takes as long as it takes, Edmund. And be honest— a kingdom still in the throes of rebuilding and recovering from the turmoil as yours has faced is not the best place for them to learn statecraft that they will indeed need in the future. And as yet, your infrastructure is still terribly unstable. How many have returned to rebuild?”

“Not as many as I would like.” Edmund admitted, glancing sideways at Hamuel, who croaked agreement.

“Then let them learn what they will need to know to govern a kingdom. It is not forever, and you will have each of them there in turn. It is the best compromise.”

“But—” Edmund glanced at first Eugene and then Cass. There was a sort of desperate longing in the gaze that Cass was unsure what to make of.

Arianna’s smile softened. “I understand, better than you think. We will place several of our hot air balloons entirely at your disposal so that you may come and go as freely as can be managed. That way none of them will be deprived of each other's company for too long, and neither will you. Will that suit?”

Edmund’s face split in a broad smile. “More than I have words for, dear lady.” He swept her a courtly bow, though Hamuel fell off his shoulder and landed on his back on the tiles, quorking and flapping wildly.

Rapunzel let out her breath in a huge sigh. It wasn’t a perfect solution, by any means. It meant she would be without either her husband or her best friend for long periods of time, but it beat losing one of them entirely. She didn’t know what they would do when Edmund passed away or stepped down. She was the only heir to Corona’s throne, and she would either lose Eugene or Cass— and just the thought of that felt like her heart was collapsing on itself. 

Eugene’s hand was still painfully tight on hers and she glanced over at him. His eyes were dark and troubled, but she could not tell what he was thinking. “Eugene?” she dared softly.

His gaze snapped to hers and he offered her one of his roguish smiles, lifting her hand to press a kiss to the back of it. “It’s okay, Sunshine. Just thinking.”

“About what?” she coaxed. She didn’t like when he shut her out like this, falling back on the old ‘Flynn Rider’ charm to hide his real self from the world. On her other side, Cass was peering past her, a crease between her brows.

“Lots of things. I haven’t quite sorted them out yet. When I do, I’ll let you know.” His smile didn’t waver.

“Eugene—”

Edmund interrupted before she could coax more out of Eugene. “It is not a perfect solution, but I look forward to showing both of you the work we have started in the kingdom.”

Eugene turned that high-wattage smile on him. “I’m sure it’s great, Dad. Cass and I will be glad to see it eventually.”

“But—”

“Nothing is settled yet, Edmund,” Rapunzel offered diplomatically. “We still need to decide who is going first and when. Winter is coming soon, and traveling will be harder then. We might have to push it back until spring if we don’t get things worked out before harvest time.”

“Ahh—” Edmund’s heavy brow furrowed.

“But let’s not worry about that now!” Eugene broke in with more of that too-cheery tone that told Rapunzel he was about the farthest thing from happy. “At least now we have something, which is a lot better than the big fat nothing we had before. So Dad— why don’t you tell me about the castle. I mean, last time I saw it— well, it was kinda full of black rocks. That can’t have been good for it, structurally, I mean.”

Edmund was efficiently distracted, going off on a discussion of how much of the castle had survived the disappearance of the black rocks, He and Eugene walked off together, Edmund talking excitedly and gesturing with his single hand.

Cass glanced back at Rapunzel. “Well, that was weird.”

Rapunzel peered after her husband. “It was. Wonder—”

“Rapunzel, a word, please?” Arianna called from where she stood talking to Frederic.

“Hold that thought,” Rapunzel said before going to see what her mother needed. Cass chewed absently on her bottom lip, glancing after Eugene and Edmund, now disappearing through the main doors.

He was doing that thing again, flipping between the bravada of his ‘Flynn Rider’ side and what she had glimpsed the other day, the damaged, frightened person that she had a feeling was closer to how he was really feeling. She mentally named it  _ ‘Sad Eugene.’ _ She was beginning to not like seeing it, because— because he was her brother now, and as much as they teased and poked fun at each other, it bothered her that something was hurting him so badly.

It would take some detective work to figure it out, but that was one thing she was good at. She nodded to herself. She’d just have to find some way to keep Rapunzel occupied while she figured out what was wrong. Rapunzel’s too-helpful nature would not help her in this.

~

The next morning proved that she was very right on something being very wrong.

“Cass?”

Cassandra looked up from the dagger she was sharpening, a little surprised to find Rapunzel lingering in the doorway of the armory. Though she was currently training to use the dagger at her belt, she wasn’t one to wander down here, where the walls were covered in racks upon racks of pointed death. “What’s up, Raps?”

“Um—” Rapunzel's face was pinched with worry. “Have you seen Eugene? He— he didn’t come to bed last night.”

“Huh?” Cass set her whetstone down. “Wasn’t he with you when you went upstairs after dinner?” She had walked with them to the base of the stairs, after all.

“He was. But while I was getting ready for bed, he said there was something he had to take care of and that he’d be back later. I fell asleep waiting for him and when I woke up, he still hadn’t come to bed.”

That was very unusual. Rapunzel often referred to her husband as a cuddlebug, and Cass had seen enough to know it wasn’t a lie. Eugene preferred to spend as much time as possible with Rapunzel. There was very little that would keep him out of her arms for an entire night.

She set her work aside and rose to her feet. “I’ll help you look for him. Any idea where he’d hide if he’s sulking?”

“Sulking?”

“Brooding, then. You saw how he was after that announcement yesterday morning.”

Rapunzel puffed out her cheeks. “Yeah, he didn’t want to talk about it at all yesterday, and I didn’t have time to keep asking him, what with the lessons.”

Cass closed the door behind her. “Don’t remind me. The Queen—”

“You’re supposed to call her Arianna, Cass—” Rapunzel interrupted. 

Cass snorted. “You know I’m not going to. Anyway, she’s set me up to share some of your lessons in statecraft. Apparently, it’s never too soon to start.”

“We’ll be study buddies.”

Cass shoved her. “Please don’t, Raps.”

Rapunzel giggled at her before catching sight of one of the guard. “Bentin? Have you seen the Captain?”

“I’m afraid not, Your Highness.”

“Would you have everyone keep an eye out for him and have someone fetch me when they find him?”

“Of course, Highness.”

~

But their search went in vain, though Cass did find through Fidella that Max had been missing from the stable since early that night, and confirmed that Eugene had been with him. “So he rode out when he left you last night, but where did he go?” She reported to Rapunzel, who was talking earnestly with Stan.

Rapunzel sighed, gesturing at the uncomfortable-looking guard. “He wouldn’t say. He just said Cap was in charge unless it had something to do with Edmund, and then it would fall back to Stan.”

Cass frowned, chewing on her lower lip. “I don’t like it. He— he was acting strange— stranger than normal, that is— yesterday after court.”

Rapunzel frowned but could not disagree. Eugene had not confided anything to her. And that was unusual, ever since— well, ever since the Dark kingdom and his conflicted feelings over the revelation that Edmund was his father. He had promised not to hide things from her anymore. “Where would he go, though?”

Cass shrugged. “I wish I knew.” She glanced out the window, judging the height of the sun. “It’s past time for lunch. Let’s get some food in you before we decide what to do next. Because If I know you, you were so worried about him that you didn’t eat breakfast before you came to find me.”

“I—” began Rapunzel, and then her stomach rumbled softly. She scowled down at it. “Betrayer.”

Cass took her arm. “C’mon, Raps. Might as well worry about him on a full stomach as an empty one.”

“R-right.”

They were passing one of the tall windows, thrown open for the crisp fall breeze, when Owl swooped in, hooting. Cass tilted her head to follow him as he circled above them. She cursed and grabbed Rapunzel’s wrist.

“What is it?” Rapunzel asked as she was pulled into a run.

“Owl found your husband,”

They pelted down to the main courtyard, greeted by the sound of dragging, tired hoofbeats. Max plodded in, his head hanging lower than either of them could ever remember. And if he looked tired, the man on his back looked like death warmed over. 

Eugene sagged over the saddlebow, dirty and tired and completely unlike the man who had a skin care routine more rigorous than the princess. One of his sleeves was torn and there were scrapes on both hands... and was that blood on the cuff of his untorn sleeve? A smudge of ash decorated one cheek, like he’d wiped it with a dirty hand. He barely moved when Max dragged to an exhausted halt, only blinking into awareness at the sound of Rapunzel's voice calling his name.

“Hey, Sunshine,” his voice was a ragged croak. “I didn’t miss lunch, did I?”

Cass folded her arms and stared up at him. The smile he was giving Rapunzel reeked of his Flynn Rider persona, and not of the man who looked like he could stand to sleep the whole day away. “A little past, but no, you didn’t miss it while you were off— where were you anyway?”

The smile became stronger, but the eyes behind it were— not as empty as she remembered them being back when she had first met him, a pleasant façade covering his thoughts— no, this time his gaze was shuttered tight. If eyes were the windows of the soul, he had the shutters closed, the curtains drawn and a blanket tacked over those casements. “Just— had some things to take care of, Dragon Lady. Nothing to worry about.”

That was a lie. There was definitely something to worry about. But rather than call him out on it, she raised her fingers to her lips for a piercing whistle. One of the stablehands, doubtless already alerted by Owl, came running to take Max’s reins, when Eugene swung stiffly out of the saddle. “Take him off for a good rubdown and have a farrier take a look at him, He seems to be limping a little on his off hind foot,” she commanded, even as Rapunzel slid up against Eugene’s side, as much to support him as be close, because he looked ready to drop like a stone. “Then get him a warm mash and have one of the cooks stew some apples in honey for him. He’s about done in.”

“Yes’m.” The stablehand led Max away, the poor horse stumbling after him on tired, wobbly legs.

“Raps, drag his carcass off to a bath and make sure he doesn’t drown in it. I’ll head down to bespeak some lunch brought up to your rooms, because he’s in no condition to show up in front of a table full of nobles, least of all, King Edmund. I’ll pass your apologies on to the queen, but I don’t think either of us are going to make it to those statecraft lessons this afternoon.”

Rapunzel just nodded, and started to steer her husband toward the stairs. “Get a couple of guards to help you haul him up the stairs if need be, Raps. I don’t want to listen to him complain about damage to his face if he falls on it!”

“Who died and put you in charge?” Eugene tried to snark.

Cass wasn’t going to bite. “I put me in charge, so how ‘bout you do as you're told?”

Rapunzel didn’t give him a chance to retort, even if he had one at the ready, which Cass honestly didn’t think he did. She pulled Eugene away toward the tower, calling to a pair of guards even over her husband’s weak protests. “I’m strong,” she scowled at him. “But not strong enough to stop you from going back down the stairs if you fall.”

He only relented when she continued, “And I’d probably go down with you.” Whatever else was bothering Eugene, the thought of Rapunzel getting hurt was anathema to him. He let the two guards slip his arms over their shoulders. Cass figured they’d probably switch to the carry that they had used on her when they reached the stairs since it was easier to maneuver that way. She left them to it and headed down to the kitchen to order food brought up to them, chewing over her thoughts uncomfortably. 

After taking her message to the queen, Cass headed back up the stairs, arriving at the same time as the laden lunch cart. Rapunzel let them in, her face pinched. “Cass, can you get everything set up while I make sure he gets out of the bath, please?”

Nodding, Cass directed the helpers in setting up the food and shooed them out before Rapunzel dragged out a dressing-gown swaddled Eugene. Without the smudges of dirt and ash, it was only more obvious how tired he was, shadows under sunken eyes, chapped, bitten lips and sallow cheeks. Rapunzel steered him down into a chair and he sank into it like his body was made of lead, too heavy to hold up. Without a word, Cass brought over a tray and balanced it across the arms of the chair. “Eat.”

He nodded and listlessly picked up a fork. The tines wandered aimlessly over the plate before finding something to ferry to his mouth. Eugene chewed the bite mechanically, staring into the fire.

Rapunzel shared a glance with Cassandra before perching herself on the tiny space left on the arm of the chair. She smoothed a hand over Eugene’s damp hair. “Love, what happened?”

It was like his face changed in an instant, going from weary, with pinched lines around his mouth, to bright and smiling. Cass could still read the closed-off look in his eyes, but he was putting up his old front, like easily slipping on a well-worn mask. “Nothing’s wrong, sweetheart. I’m just tired. It was a long ride.”

“Where exactly did you go?” Cass asked, folding her arms and leaning against the wall by the fireplace.

He held the smile. “Just the border post, Dragon Lady.”

“Okay so that’s almost a full-day’s ride at a normal pace. It’s pretty clear you pushed Maximus. Why?”

His eyes shifted but his expression didn’t falter. “I was providing aid to the refugees of the caravan attack.”

“Why in the middle of the night? The king sent out a hot air balloon first thing this morning.”

“Yeah, I know.” Irritation flashed briefly in his eyes but didn’t reach his face. “Storms south of here delayed sending out relief balloons yesterday. His Royal Majesty informed me of that after that they came up with their  _ plan _ for us. They needed aid sooner than that, so I rode out.” 

Cass couldn’t say she liked the emphasis he put on that, but Rapunzel beat her to the punch. “Why didn’t you take anyone else with you?” 

“Sunshine, you know as well as I do, Fidella is the only horse on the whole island with half a chance of keeping up with Max. I didn’t want to waste time or be slowed down by riders on slower beasts.” 

“Why didn’t you take Fidella then?” Rapunzel asked. 

“She’s Cassandra’s. I wasn’t borrowing her without asking.” He didn’t put his normal mocking inflection on her name.

“Fidella doesn’t belong exclusively to me. I just trained with her when we were both young.” Cass retorted.

“You took her with you when you left Corona, Cass. She’s your horse.”

Cass huffed air through her nose. “So why didn’t you ask me?”

“Because you would have insisted on being the one going with me, and you might be healing better now, but that long in the saddle at that pace would have undone all the good. It’s called looking out for you.”

“What about looking after you?” Cass riposted back.

“Whatever do you mean, Dragon Lady?” His mask didn’t falter.

“Eugene—” Rapunzel chided. “You know exactly what she means. You wore yourself out. You promised me you weren’t going to do this again.”

This time, he flinched and Cass got a glimpse of a potent mix of sadness and fear before he blinked and the shutters came down again. “Fair. I just needed to get medical supplies and aid out to the refugees of the attack as fast as I could. I’m not going to pass out on you again, sweetheart.”

Rapunzel stroked his hair. “I just worry about you.”

He leaned his head into her hand for a moment before straightening up. Cass saw that same flash of vulnerability in his eyes before he offered Rapunzel a toothy smile. “Well, you went through the bother of having all this lovely food brought up here— we should eat.” He turned that empty, too-bright smile on Cass. “You staying for lunch, Dragon Lady?”

Cass had gotten enough food for all of them, but her appetite was entirely gone, replaced by a knot of tension. “Not this time. Raps, I’ll see you in time for court. Make sure he gets to bed after lunch. I’ll let my dad know that he’s taking the rest of the day off too.”

Eugene opened his mouth to object. Rapunzel silenced him with a finger across his lips. “Not negotiable, Eugene. You need sleep.” 

Cass took herself out, leaving Rapunzel to get her husband fed and to bed. She— she needed some advice. There was something deeply wrong with Eugene shutting Rapunzel out. 

~

Unfortunately, she had no chance to go seeking that advice when she ran into Edmund in the halls. “Cassandra,” he greeted cautiously. 

“Your Majesty?” She gave him a courteous nod, but kept her thoughts to herself.

“I wish to apologize for—”

Sighing, she held up a hand. “Look, I appreciate that you're making the effort, but in spite of acting like a daft idiot sometimes, I know you're smart. Smart enough to realize— there are other people you should apologize to before you try it with me. I'm mad at you, and I'm probably going to stay that way until something gives. And if it's not the right thing, It's going to be my temper, which— you've seen for yourself— is on a very short fuse. You want any part of me— or for that matter, Eugene— I suggest you measure that against your grudges or power plays."

“I—” Edmund looked taken aback and seemed at a loss for words for a moment. Cass waited until he had found his tongue again. “You— you would—” He flailed for words again.

“I would. Until something gives, neither of us are going anywhere.” She finished for him. “You should know by now, everything we love is here. Unless and until you can come to terms with that and realize that all you’re doing is estranging yourself more and more with your petty games. While I am here, I am Rapunzel’s knight, first— heir to you, second. My duty lies with her, not sitting up at the dinner table to be stared at like an oddity by a group of nobles, most of whom don’t have the gods-given sense  _ my horse _ does. Eugene— his duty is to the guard he commands and to protecting the people of Corona— not to be forced to sit through court sessions when there are more pressing matters, like bandit raids on traders under the protection of this kingdom.”

He opened his mouth but she cut him off with a raised hand. “Yes, I am well aware we need to learn these things, that is why the Queen came up with the compromise she did— but that does not mean throwing us headfirst into situations we do not know how to deal with and are not comfortable with.”

“Cassandra, I—”

“Save it. Since you seem so determined to have us as your heirs, that gives me the right to tell you when you are out of line. You blew past that line a while ago, to be honest about it. Now, if you will excuse me, I have duties to attend to.” She gave him a curt bow. “You— you might wish to consider where your priorities are.”

Turning on her heel, she strode away, ignoring his aborted call of her name.

She’d gone to the throne room next in the hopes of talking to Queen Arianna, who— in her opinion— was one of the only level heads in this place. But she never made it past the doors, one look at the queen’s tired eyes had convinced her that Arianna did not need anything else heaped on her shoulders. Frustrated, she considered her options. 

She could ride out to the Duckling and talk to Lance. While he and level-headedness had no meaningful acquaintance, Lance had known Eugene since they were children; maybe he’d have some sort of idea what was going on in his head. It was unnerving how she had seen Eugene switch between— his normal cheerful and snarky attitude and the one she was starting to think was closer to the real him. The one she had taken to mentally calling, ‘Sad Eugene,’ and it scared her a little bit. How had she never realized that? How damaged was he?

She had just made up her mind to saddle Fidella and ride out there, hadn’t she? Yeah, she was in deep with this sibling thing. _ Fu— _

She turned a corner and almost ran over Rapunzel. She shot out an arm and caught Rapunzel before she could go down on her rear. “Careful, Raps!”

Rapunzel looked up at her and Cass felt her breath catch in her throat. There was no mistaking the look of frustrated worry on her face or the angry tears filling her eyes and clumping her lashes together. “What is it?”

Wordlessly, Rapunzel flung her arms around Cass and hugged her tight. Instinctively, Cass curled an arm around her and steered them into the nearest empty guest suite. She sat Rapunzel down on the edge of the bed and sat next to her, ignoring the twinge of pain as she twisted to keep her hold on her aggrieved friend. “Raps, I can’t help if you don’t tell me what’s wrong.”

Rapunzel huffed something that was part frustrated laugh, part sob and all miserable. “What else? He won’t talk about it. He’s shutting me out as bad as he did in the Dark Kingdom. He promised not to do that again! He  _ promised!” _

Ahh. Cass tightened her arm around Rapunzel. “Easy there, Raps.”

“I hate it when he does this!” It was a desperate cry of frustration and Cassandra understood the feeling. For all their poking and teasing, she cared about Eugene too. He had been her brother in spirit long before he had been her brother in truth. She didn’t like the thought that he was closing them out. And why was he doing it?

It took a bit to calm Rapunzel down, simmering with frustration like she was. But eventually she got it out of her that she’d tried to coax the reason he was so upset out of him. He’d shut her down— not harshly— but in a way she was not used to being treated by him of all people. He’d finally said he was going to bed, and laid down stiffly, turning his back on her and refusing to say anything until the exhaustion had pulled him down into real slumber. “Why won’t he talk to me, Cass?”

“As much as I hate to admit it, I don’t know, Raps. This isn’t the Eugene we know. Something’s got him twisted up inside.” Not that she wasn’t well acquainted with that feeling, but Cass pushed that thought aside in favor of comforting Rapunzel. 

“What can we do?” Rapunzel scrubbed at her eyes.

“I know you don’t want to, but let it go for now. The more you push, the more he’ll wall you out. It’s what I would do, and I think we’re enough alike that he’d probably do the same. Must be a family trait.”

As intended, the joke got a stifled little giggle out of Rapunzel. “I just want to help him.”

“I know. And we will. But first we have to figure out how.” Cass sighed. “I’m riding out to the Duckling to talk to Lance. Want to come?”

“Sure. But why Lance? He hasn’t been up to the castle in weeks.” Scrubbing at her damp eyes, Rapunzel rose to her feet, offering a hand to pull Cass to her feet. 

Cass accepted it and stood. “No, but he knows your husband better than anyone else. If anyone might know what’s going on in that head of his, he might.” 

~

Over a bowl of Lance’s excellent stew, Cass questioned Lance about the way Eugene was acting. Unfortunately, he was spectacularly unhelpful, answering with a shrug and a “That’s the way he’s always been. Even when we were kids.” They rode back to the castle with no more helpful information than what they had already known. 

Cass sent Rapunzel to go keep an eye on Eugene. Hopefully, he’d be more talkative once sleep had blunted the edges of whatever was bothering him. She had one last option she could try for understanding. She wasn’t looking forward to it. Things were still touchy there.

Cassandra fidgeted outside her father’s door like she was a child again. While she was still angry, she wanted his wisdom. She needed to understand. She might still have gone to Arianna, but she really didn’t want to add another burden, not when Arianna was still dealing with the fallout of— well, everything, so the next best source of wisdom had to be her dad. Finally she worked up the nerve to tap on his door.

He opened the door almost as if he had been waiting for her knock. His face went wary at the sight of her, and she forced herself to push the hurt aside. “Dad, can we talk? I promise, it won’t be anything about your feud. I just— I really need some advice.”

His gaze softened and he stepped aside to let her enter. She slumped down in the chair by the fireplace, drawing her knees up as far as her still healing wound allowed. He pulled his chair opposite her. “What is it?”

“I don’t even know where to start.”

“At the beginning, like a report.”

She rolled her eyes, but years of training to join the guard allowed her to think of it as exactly that, a report. She noted all her observations, from Eugene flip-flopping between his braggart ‘Flynn’ side to the more emotionally fragile side he had allowed her to see, to the recent shutting out of both her and Rapunzel. She managed to keep her emotions off her face, but her dad knew her too well and could see right through her and just how troubled she was by it.

“Honey— you two are more alike than you ever thought. You always hid everything behind anger and a sense of duty— he hid it behind the persona of a rogue. He let you see behind the mask, when he let you in. And now—”

"I don't get it Dad. How is it no one else seems to think that's a problem?"

Cap sighed. "Do you want the real answer, or the comforting lie?"

"Real answer please." She didn't want to be comforted, she wanted to understand.

"The long story short, Eugene was the first real person Rapunzel had met outside  _ her, _ how could she notice when he's probably her blueprint of normal people. He tends to be on his best behavior around his in-laws, though I am pretty sure the queen has seen what lies behind the mask, just like you have.” 

His face darkened briefly, but his voice gave away nothing. “Edmund wouldn't know normal behavior if it bit him in his cloak. Lance— Honestly, Strongbow grew up with him. He's used to him hiding behind a mask and a fake name... after all, they've both been doing it to a degree since they were children, Fitzherbert more than Strongbow, but it's the norm that Lance knows. And... he plays up his Flynn Ryder façade around everyone else to the degree where no one would want to look closer. Or in Varian's case— because he knows Varian thought Flynn Ryder was cool and Eugene doesn't want him to think otherwise."

"Until he stopped around me. Why though? I had been horrible to him right before." She remembered her misplaced rage at him— at the man who was her brother now, by blood and stronger bonds.

"Maybe because now you were family?" Cap shrugged. "Heaven's know I'd jump at the first chance to have a relative who wasn't Edmund."

“So why is he shutting me out again? Worse, why is he shutting Rapunzel out?”

Cap sighed and steepled his fingers. "I have a guess, but I cannot tell you what is going through his mind."

"At this point, I'll take what I can get." She looked down at her knees. "He's driving Raps to distraction... And I'm not far behind her."

"It's because he let you in."

"I don't follow."

"He let you in and made himself vulnerable in a way that he's never been before. In letting you past his defenses he opened himself to new possibilities of hurt. He got a taste of it when you were injured and discovered it was a flavor he didn't like."

"So he shuts me back out? Just because I could get hurt? Where does that make any sense?"

"Sense has nothing to do with it, hun. That vulnerability is new to him. Outside of Rapunzel, you are the only one he's trusted enough to let inside his defenses, and that puts you in a unique position. Because of that, you could hurt him, worse than anyone else. So he tries to hide his weaknesses from you again— because you could exploit them. Like you, he knows what it's like to be manipulated and used, and letting someone in as much as he's let you— chances that happening again." He tapped a finger against his temple. "Up here, he knows you won't." His hand dropped down to cover his heart. "In here, that doesn't matter, not against that fear. Fear knows no master. Not the heart or the mind." 

Cap sighed. "Letting people in... it's a hard thing for those who learned early not to trust. When someone gets past the barriers they've built around their heart, it's a frightening thing. It's a vulnerability they didn't have before. A weak point of making themselves open to someone and being terrified of not only how much that person could hurt you, but—" His eyes had gone distant. "But how much it would hurt you to lose that person." 

He wasn't talking about Eugene anymore. Cass knew it instinctively. Somehow this conversation had become a confession. A baring of the fears that he harboured. She felt some of her anger with him shrivel up and blow away. Not all of it, by any means, but a good portion. She uncurled and leaned out to touch his cheek, stubble rough against her scarred palm. He startled and his eyes met hers, wide open with a vulnerability she had never seen from him before.

"Dad— daddy—" She let herself show her own weakness. "I tried to drive you away once, in misplaced anger— but you never let me go. Do you think after that, that I would ever let you go?"

He covered her hand with his own, not even flinching from the feel of the runneled scars. “I don’t know if I can bear—”

“Don’t. I promised you before, and it’s not one I intend to break.”

His breath escaped in a sigh. “Right. I remember.”

Cass offered him one of her rare open smiles.

“I am trying, hun. I’d rather not have this with Edmund hanging between us. I may never get along with him, but I’d as soon not drive you—”

“Dad!”

“ — To distraction with it. It wasn’t so much the insults—”

“As the implication that  _ he _ could have done better by me.”

His eyes went wide. “How—?”

“My best friend talks with her mother at breakfast practically every morning. What makes you think she wouldn’t have brought it up?”

He actually chuckled. “Point.”

“Whatever else— you were the best thing that could have happened to me when I was little. I’m only sorry it took me so long to realize it. I was too busy being angry to think things through very clearly.”

His hand closed more tightly around hers.

Cass smiled and rose, bending to kiss her father’s forehead, a gesture she didn’t offer very often. “Don’t think I’m not still a little bit angry, Dad. You of all people should have known better.”

He sighed. “I know, dear. But my ego and my temper had taken enough of a battering that I finally snapped.”

“Finally? Dad, Eugene told me you tried to strangle him over Hector.”

Cap shrugged sheepishly. “What can I say? You were hurt and the part of me that is your father reacted like any real—”

_ “Dad!” _

“Like any father would have,” he amended.

“You’re lucky I love you, Dad. But this has to stop.”

“Why do you think I’ve been avoiding him?”

“That’ll only work for so long and you know it.”

“Believe me, I am well aware of it.”

Sighing, Cass turned her hand to link her fingers with his and give his hand a gentle squeeze. With that she took her leave, still wound up about Eugene’s attempt to shut her and Rapunzel out, but feeling an easing of some of the tightness in her chest.

~

Cass went up to Rapunzel’s rooms right before dinner time, unsurprised to find no light coming from under the door. She let herself in, quietly, unwilling to wake Eugene if he was still sleeping. “Raps?” she called softly.

“Here.” She found the princess curled up in a pile of blankets by the low-burning fire, a lamp next to her as she painted in her journal. Pascal squeaked a welcome as Cass dropped to sit cross-legged on the blankets next to her.

Cass scritched his tiny head with a finger. “How are you doing?”

“Calmer, but still frustrated. I think it helps that he’s still sleeping. He can’t push me away like that. He’s been having nightmares. I can soothe him out of them and he clings to me when I do. He can’t shut me out entirely, not like that.”

Cass caught a glimpse of the pages Rapunzel had been painting and felt her breath catch in her throat. It depicted Rapunzel on one page, standing all alone, hands clenched together in front of her. On the other page, a dark, foreboding castle looming tall over the tiny figure Cass recognized as herself, but wrapped in heavy chains. Directly over the seam in the pages, a figure of Eugene, a crown in the hand closest to the castle and his guard helmet in the one closest to Rapunzel. It said so much without words, and Cass slid her arm around Rapunzel's shoulder and pulled her close. Setting the book aside, Rapunzel turned to her and buried her face in Cass’s shoulder, both arms sliding around her waist. 

Cass rested her cheek on the crown of Rapunzel's head. “We’ll figure something out,” she said softly. “There’s got to be some way. You said you’re not willing to lose either of us, well, neither of us plan to lose you either.”

Rapunzel sniffled. “I just don’t know how. We’re all being pulled in different directions and I hate it.”

That was something she understood all too well. It was one thing when she was traveling, free to find her own redemption, and free to return as she chose or leave when it became too much, but belonging was where the people you loved were, and here was where she and Eugene belonged, a place they had found for themselves. 

“We’ll figure something out.” She repeated, but she wasn’t sure she believed it.

~

Eugene slept through dinner so Rapunzel sent for something to be brought up while Cass tendered apologies for their absence from lessons and duties. When she returned, Eugene was sitting up in the bed, but his eyes were still bleary. 

Cass wondered whether she should go and eat down in the kitchens and leave Eugene to Rapunzel, but a hand around her wrist kept her from leaving. “Eat with us, Cass.” Rapunzel’s green eyes made the message clear. Keep her from asking more questions and driving Eugene further away. 

Sighing, she nodded and tugged off her boots. Eugene actually raised an eyebrow at that, and she met his gaze with a flat stare before folding her legs up into one of the wingback chairs. It took a moment, but he finally managed an almost real smile. “You know animals aren’t allowed on the furniture, right?”

Pascal squeaked indignantly from the bedpost and Eugene actually chuckled. It was far and away from either the bravado of his façade or the real laugh reserved for only people he trusted. But it was something. “Sorry, frog.”

Pascal was not appeased and stole a grape off the plate Rapunzel set in Eugene’s lap, earning an indignant sound from Eugene and a cascade of giggles from Rapunzel.

Cass had bit back her natural retort about then he shouldn’t be allowed either, because frankly she wasn’t sure of the reception it would get. Normally her sniping at him was something she wouldn’t think twice about but at the moment— Sighing, she accepted the plate Rapunzel handed her. 

They ate in silence for a few moments, though Cass could practically see Rapunzel vibrating with the need to ask Eugene questions. Questions that would make him close down again. So for the first time since she had left Corona, she slipped easily into a part, that of the gossip, like the maids she had once emulated. She left out anything she thought might make Eugene close off again, but spoke softly of palace incidentals, though she did get a spark of interest when she mentioned running into Edmund. So she elaborated, relaying her less-than-politic conversation.

At last Eugene engaged with her, asking about Edmund’s reaction and chewing absently at his food. It was the closest thing to life she’d seen out of him since he’d come dragging in. Rapunzel seemed just as invested, listening as she ate. She uttered a small, delighted “hah,” when Cass relayed her assertion that neither she nor Eugene would go anywhere until something gave because everything they loved was here.

Eugene said nothing to that, only ferrying another bite into his mouth before deftly changing the subject. Cass scowled at him but bit her lip on the urge to shake him until he spilled what was bothering him. But pushing would only make him close up again. So she kept the conversation light, not pushing like everything in her wanted to. 

After they had eaten, Rapunzel rang for a servant to take the dishes away while Cass uncurled from the chair and tucked her feet back in her boots. Eugene started to rise from the bed, but Rapunzel pushed him down firmly. “Ah-ah, mister, you still need more sleep.”

“But—”

“No buts. I could pack for another cross-country trip in those bags under your eyes, love. And you know what not getting enough sleep does to your skin.” Rapunzel scolded with a cheerfulness that was only only a little forced.

It did get a half-smile out of her husband though. “Trust you to remember my skin-care routine.”

That got a peal of laughter out of Rapunzel. “There’s a reason you have your own vanity, Eugene. There wasn’t enough room for my stuff.” She leaned down and kissed his forehead. “Get some more sleep, please.”

Cass pushed herself to her feet. “That’s my cue to leave, I’ll see you in the morning.”

Rapunzel straightened up, brushing an affectionate hand through her husband's sleep-rumpled hair. “I’ll walk you to the door.”

Rapunzel stopped Cass at the door, taking both hands in hers. “Thank you. I probably would have only upset him more,” She said in a low voice.

“You don’t have to thank me. At least this was one problem I could do something about. Others, not so much—”

“Still—?”

“They’re not trying to kill each other, at least,” Cass sighed. “But that doesn’t stop the glares from across the room, or the under-the-breath grumbles.”

“Oh, Cass—” Rapunzel leaned in until their foreheads were touching.

“I keep hoping something will give, Raps. This is driving me crazy. As much as I don’t want to go to the Dark Kingdom at all, I don’t want to be squabbled over like a favorite toy by two supposedly grown men. It’s making me miserable, to be honest.”

“We’ll figure something out,” Rapunzel reassured.

“I hope so.” Cass squeezed her hands before releasing them and straightening up. “Goodnight, Raps. You too, Fitzherbert.”

She glanced over at the bed. Eugene was watching her intently, his eyes more alive than they had been all day. He only nodded at her, though.

~

She probably wasn’t going to forgive him for this, but there was a lot that he’d done that he considered unforgivable. And this had to be sorted. Cass and Arianna had done what they could, but he was going to have to finish it because— well, it needed done. They were both stubborn as hell— no question where Cass had gotten it from.

Edmund had been easy enough to corral. He was almost pathetically eager to spend time with his children, so when Eugene suggested meeting in the library, he’d practically jumped at the chance. Cap— Cap was a harder sell, but talking over patrol routes had offered the opportunity to suggest checking the maps that adorned one wall of the library.

Edmund rose to his feet as they entered, his face pinched.

“And I’ll just be going now,” Cap said, his expression almost a match for Edmund’s.

Eugene latched onto his arm. “Nope, not this time. Your grudge dies here and now. Both of you, sit!” 

They both hesitated, but slowly, Edmund sank back into the chair he’d abandoned at their arrival, one of the overstuffed beasts that flanked the fireplace. Cap warily took one of the others. Eugene went to the fireplace and grabbed three mugs and a bottle of bourbon that he had stashed behind the clock adorning the mantelpiece. Two of the mugs went to each of the older men, and he poured a measure into all three. 

He lifted his mug at them before tipping it to his lips. They both followed suit, drinking appreciatively of the expensive alcohol he’d taken from one of the liquor cabinets in the formal dining room. Eugene set his still-full mug back on the mantle and stared down at his father and Cap. “I’m sure you both heard this from Cass, but I’m going to reiterate. This needs to end. Dad, you estrange her one more time and she’s probably going to tell you in excruciating detail what you can do with her circlet, and it won’t be polite.”

Cap snorted explosively into his mug, coughed and swilled down a hearty swallow to stifle the coughing. Eugene raised an eyebrow at him. “Yes?”

“She grew up around the guard. It’ll be a bit more than impolite.” Cap stared down into his mug. “For all I forbade her to use it, she has a vocabulary like the average sailor.”

Edmund grunted, but when Eugene glanced at him, he wasn’t glaring, instead smiling into his own cup. “Dad?”

Edmund didn’t look at Cap. “Your mother was much the same way. She had so much patience, but push her too far and Melisande could verbally flay strips off of anyone.”

“Yeah, but I think Cass skipped the patience bit.” Eugene snorted. Leaving his mug on the mantelpiece, he seated himself on the stone hearth, “Look, I’m gonna cut to the chase, we need to get this sorted, or frankly nobody is going to be happy.”

Edmund grimaced, but nodded slowly. “Your sister has made it clear that she will not come home until then—”

Cap set his mug down with a clatter. “Corona is h—!”

“Cap!” Eugene barked, startling the older man enough to cut off his forming tirade. He glared at him until Cap settled sullenly.

“Son—”

“Don’t you start, either, Dad. You have to know that Corona has been home for both of us for a very long time— me since I was in my teens and Cass all her life. You can’t take that from us so easily.”

Edmund scowled, but nodded slowly.

Cap twisted his hands together in his lap, thumbs pressed together so hard his knuckles went white. “What do you propose we do about it? You’re also Prince-Consort here. And my daughter—” he shot a glare at Edmund before he could open his mouth. “Cassandra is Heir’s Knight to Rapunzel. Those are compelling reasons for both of you to be here.”

“Which is why the queen worked out the compromise that she has. It’s not a perfect solution, and likely won’t last past the time it takes to get us trained in statecraft. Something else will have to be thought up.” Eugene answered wearily, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Because, I’m not leaving my wife for any longer than necessary, and you’ll have to break Cass’s legs to drag her away from Rapunzel again.”

“She’s made that clear.” Cap said. 

Edmund nodded again, lips pinched beneath his moustache. “I fear she will no longer listen to anything I have to say.”

“She isn’t that unreasonable,” Eugene said before Cap could form a retort. “Cass is hot tempered, yeah, but she’s logical. If you can prove yourself to have let go of this stupid grudge between you, she would be inclined to listen to reason.”

“She has already made it abundantly clear that she will not leave the people she loves behind.” Edmund said sadly.

"Dad, you got to understand you're asking a lot from her. Cass—” Eugene scrubbed his hands over his face, wishing for the umpteenth time that there was some compromise that would not make everyone unhappy. Rapunzel would be miserable without either of them for the months they had to spend in the Dark Kingdom, and he would be wretched without Rapunzel. Cass— she had gone travelling for the past couple of years, so she might be better suited— but he wouldn’t lay odds on it. Rapunzel was good for her... and honestly, he would be troubled without her too. Their relationship as siblings was still a new thing, but he had grown to like it. He shook himself out of his troubled thoughts to see both men watching him expectantly. He had to find something that— 

His gaze skipped over the massive map of the kingdoms that took up one entire wall. An idea took root. He had—

“You both know you have to get along if you don’t want her to stay mad as all hells at both of you, right?”

It was a grudging nod from Edmund and a solid one from Cap. 

“You want her to ever feel okay in going to the Dark Kingdom, you've got to understand that."

“Fair enough,” Edmund conceded, looking mildly disappointed. “While she has to come home sometime— she has made it abundantly clear she does not want to leave behind the people she loves. Neither do you.”

“This isn’t about me, Dad. We’re talking about just getting Cass to agree to going for even those three month stints. So what if she wasn't leaving everything she loved behind?" Eugene had the look in his eyes of a man having an epiphany.

"Eugene..." Edmund began. “It is indeed about both of you. I want you both to come home—”

Cap had opened his mouth, probably to tell Edmund what he thought of where Cass's home was, but Eugene didn't give him a chance to speak. "You're missing the point, Dad. Remember when we worked on the Trade Route stuff together and we talked about how the Dark Kingdom was going to need a Guard of its own?”

“Yes?”

“Well, you're going to need someone to lead it. Don't get me wrong— the Broth—  _ Adira _ is great, but she's really a more working solo kinda gal. You'll need someone who can rally and train the troops, and be patient with the new recruits, which— let’s be honest— most of them are going to be at first."

"You can't be serious." Cap said, flatly. It was obvious he had put it together before Edmund, who was still looking somewhat perplexed.

"Don't you see, it's perfect. You stepped down because you couldn't fight Cass. Well you can't fight her if she's your boss." Eugene said. He knew his smile was just a little maniacal, but he couldn’t help it.  _ “Right? _ Right.” he answered for the other man.

Eugene turned back to his father. "And he's good. Good enough to catch me. He taught me everything I know about leading a Guard, and I taught him everything I know about thinking like a criminal, giving him a huge advantage over most would-be rogues and miscreants." He turned back to the former Captain of Corona’s Guard. "You know she's going to have to go eventually, just like me." No matter how much he hated the thought. "This way you would be there too." 

Back to his father. "And it's going to be a lot easier getting her to come if she's coming to where someone—  _ familiar _ — is too."

There was a sad sort of realization in Edmund’s face as he looked into Cap’s eyes— probably for the first time since this debacle had begun. “— Someone she loves, you mean,” he finished tiredly.

Hearing the resignation in his father’s voice deflated Eugene a little. Dad really wanted Cass to care for him the way he did for her, but for Cass— it seemed like a deliberate invasion of the most stable relationship she knew. 

“Look— you may not like each other very much—” he raised a hand. “Or at all, really. But the important thing to this discussion is how much you both care for Cass. Can you work together toward that end?”

“Let me get this straight— You want me to move to the Dark Kingdom—”

“It’s been centuries since it’s been used, but the kingdom had an actual name once, you know—” Edmund said contemplatively. “Once it was called the Kingdom of Umbra.”

Cap snorted. “So the name literally means ‘Shadow’?” he stuck his tongue in his cheek and gave Edmund a level stare.

Edmund actually chortled. “At least my ancestors had a sense of humor, once upon a time.”

Cap shook his head and returned his attention to Eugene, continuing, “Move there, and take over the guard—”

“Probably be doing some recruiting first—” Eugene interrupted. “How many of the old guard is left, Dad?”

Edmund shook his head. “I gave them all orders to flee when I evacuated the kingdom. As of yet, none of the old guard have returned. As I told Queen Arianna, very few of my people have returned to rebuild. As many years as it has been, I have doubts that any more will. The land is recovering well from the scourge of the black rocks, but as it stands, it is mostly empty ruins and a few brave survivors. Some few of the staff of the Castle have returned, most of them from places your party had stopped on the journey there. My Loremaster followed Adira, Hector and I from Vardaros, for example.”

“Got it. So Cap— you would get to start from the ground up, building your forces— Mind, not that she needs that much protecting— to protect Cass as your Princess. Not really a whole lot different from what you’ve been doing all her life, y’know?”

Cap, who had been looking deeply contemplative, looked up and his face softened into a smile. “You have a point there, Fitzherbert.”

“So—?” Eugene was hopeful for the first time in a really long time. Maybe—

Cap’s mouth pursed and he pushed himself to his feet. Eugene held his breath as he crossed the distance between his chair and where Edmund sat. Edmund rose as he approached.

“Can— shall we let bygones be bygones—?” Cap asked, his voice gruff. “My— Queen and my own child and now Eugene have all made it clear that this enmity between us needs to end. Are you amenable to declaring a truce so we may both look after—  _ our _ — children?”

There was no way even his father could miss the careful choice of wording. His hooded eyes cleared a little. “Perhaps— perhaps it is time for old fools to listen to their wisdom, then. Will you then consider taking position as the Captain of—” Edmund broke out in a wry chuckle. “ — The  _ Dark _ Guard?”

Cap snorted, though his lips were twitching beneath his moustache. “I’ll consider it. On one caveat—”

“Oh—?” Eugene could see his father brace himself for whatever demand Cap might make.

“Find a place for that lunatic Hector— far, far away from anywhere Cassandra might encounter him. Or you will be short one feral madman.”

Edmund chuckled darkly. “Hector is being assigned a long-overdue hunt. That should keep him happily occupied for a time. After that, I will find something else for him to do. Something in Koto— or Arendelle perhaps—”

Eugene couldn’t help the huge sigh of relief that escaped him as Edmund extended his hand toward Cap. They shook hands, and Eugene thought he might melt as the tension seeped out of his bones. Promising he would think on the offer, Cap said his goodbyes in a decidedly more pleasant mood. 

Eugene watched him leave, reminding himself to thank Varian later, after he disposed of the rest of the calming-potion-laced bourbon. It had done just what he needed it to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Breaking points and much-needed breaks. Responsibilities and revelations both weigh heavy. Secret locales and the sharing of.


	21. A Fragile Peace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Allusions to "Rapunzel and the Lost Lagoon," but it's not necessary to have read it to understand.

She wouldn’t have believed it if she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes. 

Cass was on the way to the domain of the castle’s seamstresses to pick up a new surcoat that they had been working on to replace the one ruined when she had taken an arrow. She still had one, but Rapunzel had since designed a new crest for her, “To show your ties to both kingdoms and— and your willingness to protect those you care for,” she’d said as she sketched frantically in one of her journals. She’d insisted that the new surcoat be made with the crest stitched into both the breast and on the back in full glory. Cass trusted Rapunzel to have style, she just hoped it wasn’t going to be too garish. Rapunzel had an unmatched fondness for color.

It was around the last turn in the hall that she encountered the unbelievable sight. Standing in the corridor outside the seamstress’s workroom, talking almost amiably— her dad and Edmund. Cass ducked back around the corner before either of them could see her, and peered back around the corner.  _ What on—? _

Cap was holding swatches of fabric in one hand, and gesturing with the other. She wasn’t close enough to hear what they were saying clearly, but there was no open hostility in either their posture or tone. What had happened to cause this? Edmund said something and Cass nearly fell over when her dad actually chuckled before nodding. Finally the two men nodded a farewell to each other and walked away. It was long moments before she could even move. As long as she and Eugene and hell, even Queen Arianna, had struggled to get the two men to stop acting like dogs squabbling over a scrap of meat— what had finally done it?

Forgetting her task, Cass turned and headed back toward where she knew Rapunzel would be at this hour. She could easily fabricate a reason to pull the princess away from her tutors, and to be honest, right now, she needed Rapunzel more than the princess needed another lesson on proper forms of address for the varied noble ranks. 

It was the work of only a moment to steal Rapunzel away. One look as Cass’s determined expression had convinced the little scholar that whatever was taking the princess away from her lessons was nothing he wanted any part of. Cass merely snagged hold of Rapunzel’s hand and pulled her after her down to the stable. She saddled Max and Fidella in silence, though Rapunzel looked like she wanted to burst from impatience. Cass used a bucket as an impromptu mounting block and swung up into the saddle. 

Once they were on the road, she gave Fidella her head, and the mare took off at a brisk gallop. Max whinnied in surprise before picking up his pace to follow. Once they crossed the bridge, Cass urged Fidella into a headlong run, and the horse was not loath to take off like a shot. Max stayed at her side this time, Rapunzel leaning over his neck to urge him to greater speed. Only when the trees had cut off all signs of civilization but the road under their flying hooves did Cass relax enough to sit back in the saddle. Obediently, Fidella slowed to a gentle trot, Max following suit.

“Okay, what was that about, Cass?” Rapunzel asked when she could be heard instead of the rush of wind and thunder of hooves.

“I’m beginning to understand what Edmund said about Mel— about me and Eugene’s mother needing to feel the wind in her hair.” Cass said, tossing her head so her short curls bobbed around her face. “I thought I was going to scream before we were out of the city.”

“What is it?”

“I— I saw my dad and Edmund having a civil conversation. Dad even laughed at something Edmund said.”

“That’s good, right?”

“Kind of— I guess? Maybe? I don’t know.” Cass hated how indecisive she sounded but her thoughts and stomach were both in knots. “I mean— Yeah, isn’t that what we’ve been trying to accomplish?”

“But—?”

“Raps— if they aren’t fighting anymore, I don’t have an excuse.”

“An excuse—?” Rapunzel parroted, a wrinkle forming between her brows.

Cass sagged, slumping forward over Fidella’s withers. “I told him if they continued fighting, there was no way I— or Eugene, for that matter— would go. I meant it, too. I know you were saying winter was coming on as an excuse, but now that they aren’t fighting, Edmund’s going to push for one of us to leave with him before the inevitable winter sets in. You know how much your husband doesn’t want to go. I think his half-mad reaction to the thought of another heir proved that months ago.” Cass knotted her fingers in the reins, causing Fidella to slow and look back at her rider worriedly. “I don’t want to go either. I—” her voice wavered and she stopped herself from saying another word only through sheer effort of will.

“Cass—”

“I told you before, I don’t know how to be the princess he wants me to be!” Cass bit out instead. She didn’t do emotions, not like Rapunzel, who wore her heart on her sleeve. And those emotions were all snarled up in a huge tangle in her throat and chest. It ached fiercely.

Rapunzel leaned over, pulling on the reins still wound tightly around Cass’s tense fingers. Fidella and Max stopped there in the road and Rapunzel slid her hand over Cass’s, fingers smooth and achingly gentle on the scarred reminder of both their mistakes. Cass shivered. “I don’t want to go,” she repeated in a whisper. “I’m not— That place, it’s not— could  _ never _ be—”

Cass had been on the road long enough to finally realize where her home was. It wasn't a  _ place _ . It was in the people she loved. It was in Rapunzel, who had forgiven her for her folly in listening to whispered lies and her own bitter, envious thoughts. It was in a queen that had not faulted her for who she had thought she was born to. It was in her father, who could not bear to fight the daughter he loved, and had welcomed her back with open arms. It was even in Eugene— the brother she had never known she had. 

“Home.” She turned her hand over in Rapunzel’s, gripping tightly. “I found my home.”

“Oh, Cass—” She could tell Rapunzel understood from the hitch in her breath. She sidled Max as close as he could get and tugged on the hands she was holding until Cass leaned into her. It was an awkward sort of hug, but Cass needed it for once. “We’ll figure something out. I told you before, I’m not losing either of you again.”

Cass’s responding laugh was weak and bubbled in her throat almost like a sob. “I can’t think of any way around it,” she breathed into Rapunzel’s hair, filling her nose with the scent of lilac and moonflower. “Believe me, I tried, when I realized that this was no joke. The Dark Kingdom— King Edmund had made it clear that it needs an heir, and if it’s not going to be Eugene— your husband, also known as the Prince-Consort of Corona— it’s going to be me. And I’m— I’m more afraid of that than I’ve ever been anything else in my life.”

“Cass—”

Cass made that sick sort of laugh again. “Putting aside my lack of ability to be any kind of royalty, I— I was only starting to feel like— like me, not that bitter girl who stole the moonstone, not the always-overlooked wanna-be guard, or the handmaiden just one wrong step from being sent to a convent. And now— now, I don’t know who me is anymore.”

Rapunzel sucked in a pained breath. She knew Cass had been feeling adrift when she left Corona but each time she had returned for a visit, she had seemed more— more stable, more happy— and like she had said— more  _ herself _ — 

And in one moment it had all come crashing back down around her.

Still keeping one hand twined with Cass’s, Rapunzel kneed Max off the road and into a clearing. Fidella, whickering worriedly, kept pace. Rapunzel dismounted and led the mare to a fallen log. Tugging at Cass’s hands, she urged her to dismount and pulled her into a tight embrace. “Listen to me,” she said fiercely, “No matter the titles, no matter what other people think or call you, you are still Cassandra of Corona— a woman who refused to let herself be defined and put in a place. You have been an abandoned child, a daughter, a woman, a warrior. You have been a villain, you have been a hero. You have fought demons, within and without, and come from it stronger. You are a sister, a protector, a best friend and a thousand other things, and not one of them describes all that is you.” 

Rapunzel pushed back and caught Cassandra’s face in her hands, forcing Cass to meet her gaze. Cass’s storm-gray eyes were still a little wild, but she was calming; listening. “Being a princess does not have to define you either. You can choose what kind of princess to be, and know that Eugene and I will always be ready to back your choices.”

“Even if that choice is to not be a princess?”

“Even then.” Rapunzel smiled at her widely. “Or if you choose to be a princess who spends most of her time traveling and righting wrongs or visiting her ‘sister’ kingdom.”

Cass managed something that was almost a chuckle. “I’d be more willing to go if I could take you and hell, even Eugene with me.”

“Who says you can’t?”

“The fact that not only are you the sole heir to Corona’s throne, but the fact that you are Corona.”

“I am not, Cass!”

“Raps, you’re not a fool. You are the heart and soul of this kingdom.”

Rapunzel paused, pursing her lips momentarily. “Maybe, but you forget the kingdom survived just fine without me for eighteen years and another full year when we traveled in search of the Moonstone.” She chuckled, pulling Cass’s face closer so she could rest their foreheads together. “If you and Eugene are going to split the time in the kingdoms between you, who’s to stop me from sharing that with you?”

“Um, maybe the fact that you’re the one and only heir here. You’ll be queen after your parents. And—” Cass hesitated, chewing on her bottom lip. “Eugene is Prince-Consort, and he’ll be King-Consort then. And that will make me the odd one out.”

“Cass, you listen to me. You will never be the odd one out. Not with me, not with Eugene. We’re not leaving you behind, ever again. It’s not fair to you and I won’t let it happen.”

“Life isn’t fair sometimes, Raps.”

“Life is going to get a frying pan to the face if it thinks it can mess with you without me having something to say about it!”

As intended, that startled a laugh out of Cass, and she relaxed, tension seeping out of her muscles. She pressed her forehead a little more firmly against Rapunzel’s and chuckled with her. “Y’know, when I was trying so hard to reach for a destiny, I never imagined it would be something like this— or come with so very many strings.”

Rapunzel sighed. “I can understand. I just wanted to see the lanterns when I left my tower all those years ago; I never imagined it would lead to a crown, parents, a husband, a best friend and sister, and a crazy destiny.”

Cass snorted. “At least yours didn’t come with an insane old king who keeps trying too hard to be a dad when I already have one.” She leaned back and took Rapunzel's hands, pulling them down to hold between them. “Thanks, Raps. I’m sorry for all but kidnapping you from lessons.”

Rapunzel squeezed her hands. “Don’t apologize. I never mind an excuse to escape my lessons. And you needed me. And that’s way more important than any lessons.”

“Don’t let your mother hear you say that. She’s planning for me to join your lessons— probably so I can’t conspire to sneak you out of them.” Cass offered her a lop-sided smile.

“I never thought of it like that!” Rapunzel puffed out her cheeks. “Rude!”

Cass chuckled. “We’ll have to convince your husband to help both of us sneak out. How is he doing today, by the way?”

Rapunzel grimaced. “More like himself, but the self he used to be, before— He still won’t talk about what’s wrong, and I’m afraid to push. I don’t want him shutting me— or you— out again.”

“Remind me to smack him. He’s not allowed to worry you so much.”

The ride back to the castle was mostly quiet, though a small troop of guards found them before they had made it to the bridge and fell into a silent escort around them. Cass rolled her eyes. Trust Eugene to have sent guards out after them. And indeed, he was waiting in the courtyard when they reined up. “Where were you two? Rapunzel's tutor said you had ridden out of here like you had enemies on your tail!”

“We just went for a ride, Eugene,” Rapunzel soothed, sliding down out of Max’s saddle. “Both of us needed a little fresh air.”

Eugene eyed Cass even as he moved to help her down from the saddle. She blew her bangs out of her eyes, but allowed him to aid her. She would be so glad when the medics cleared her. She hated feeling like an invalid. “Seriously. I— I had something on my mind and needed to clear my head. And Rapunzel—”

“I knew she needed some company. You know how she overthinks things when she’s alone.”

“Thanks for the support, Raps.”

“You know it’s true.”

Eugene sighed. “Fine, but next time try not to panic your tutor.” He shook his head and motioned at one of the troop that had accompanied them back to take Max and Fidella to the stables. He turned to head back inside. “You girls coming?”

“In a minute,” Rapunzel reassured with a smile. She leaned close to Cass. “You okay?”

“For now,” Cass muttered. “I— it’s still...” She paused there, unable to articulate the confused mess of emotions that this morning had stirred up. “I’ll—”

“I told you, we’ll figure something out.” Rapunzel flashed her a gamine grin. “I’m not keen to lose my most trusted Knight.”

Cass snorted. “I’m your only knight.”

“Still most trusted.”

“Only—”

“Ladies— and venomous reptiles— can we go inside?” Eugene interrupted, wearing his lopsided smile.

“We can—” Cass said with a smirk. “But does it mean we want to—?” She grabbed Rapunzel’s wrist and took off at a run.

“What the—?” she heard Eugene yell as they left him behind.

“Cass—?” Rapunzel asked even as she was laughing and keeping pace.

“We already escaped your tutor, might as well make the best of it— besides, Attila told me yesterday that he’s trying out a new recipe for blackberry buns.” Cass didn’t want to think for a while— and if that meant chasing around the market with Rapunzel, well—

“Blackberry buns?” Rapunzel squealed and was suddenly the one pulling Cass along. “Last one there is paying!”

Cass decided that her troubles could be left behind— at least for a little while. 

~

It was well after lunch that they got back, but stuffed with treats warm from Atilla’s ovens and carrying a new portable painting set that she had been unable to resist, Rapunzel couldn’t bring herself to care about the missed meal. She was humming merrily when she got back to her rooms. Eugene was sprawled in one of the wingback chairs, a tray from the kitchens sitting on the table next to him. “Have fun?” he asked, one eyebrow raised in a look that Rapunzel knew meant he wasn’t really annoyed, though he was pretending to be.

“I did,” She dropped her new kit on the bed and stepped over to press a kiss to his forehead. “Cass had a bit of a— problem— so she needed a break to just be her.”

“Problem?”

Rapunzel frowned and chewed on her lower lip as she considered how to answer the question. “She— promise you won’t tell her I told you?”

Eugene straightened up in his chair, that familiar intensity back in his eyes. “I won’t. What is it?”

“She’s scared.” 

“What? What’s Dragon Lady got to be scared of?”

“Her dad and Edmund— they seemed to be getting along.”

“And that’s bad, how? I thought that’s what we were aiming for.” 

“It is and to be honest, I’m glad of it so we don’t have anymore incidences like in court, but she’s scared that because of it— and because she said neither of you were going until they got over it— that Edmund’s going to push for one of you to go to the Dark Kingdom very soon.” Rapunzel paced in front of him, her brow creased in worry.

“But it’s only going to be for a couple of months at a go, right?”

Rapunzel sighed. “It is, but that’s not her only worry.”

Eugene caught her hand to still her. “Then what is it?”

She sat on the arm of his chair. “She’s afraid she’ll be left behind again.”

“I’m not following, Sunshine.”

Slowly, choosing her words carefully, she repeated the conversation she and Cass had shared after their wild ride. How distressed Cass was by her certainty that she’d eventually be the odd one out, left alone and forgotten on the throne of a Kingdom she had never imagined might be hers. 

Eugene looked like he'd bit into something sour by the time she finished. “She knows that’s not gonna happen, right? I mean, can she honestly think you would let that happen?”

“She knows,” Rapunzel sighed and then tapped the tip of his nose with a chiding fingertip. “She knows that you wouldn’t either, but you and I both know that fears don’t always listen to reason. Especially one that— entrenched.”

“Entrenched, Sunshine?”

“She was abandoned as a child by the woman she thought was her mother. So— sometimes she gets afraid that someone she loves will do it again. It’s like— I know my Dad has learned his lesson about trying to keep me locked up— but sometimes, I can’t breathe and I have to get outside before I go mad, because all that fear comes back.” Rapunzel shivered a little. 

“Huh— I knew you had nightmares too, but the only ones you told me about were— well—”

“The ones where I couldn’t save you. Or the ones where I couldn’t save Cass.” Rapunzel slid off the arm of the chair into his lap, winding her arms around his neck. “I have a lot of different nightmares, but those are some of the ones that come back most often.”

Some of the tension seeped out of him and he put his arms around her to tuck her close to his body, “You know you can share those with me, right? I’d rather that than you suffer in silence.”

“I know, I just hate waking you up. And you know you can do the same— I  _ know _ you have nightmares too, Eugene.”

There was a haunted look in his eyes, but he covered it with a soft laugh. “Not bad enough to worry you with, sweetheart.”

“Do not lie to me, mister.”

“I’m not lying.” Eugene retorted. “You know I can't lie to you.” He’d just never let on that he didn’t think any nightmares were worth disturbing her slumber for.

Rapunzel heaved a sigh. “I know, but I also know you’re not telling me the whole truth either.”

Eugene didn’t answer, only holding her close for a moment before letting her go. “I’ll— I’ll talk to Cass, see if there’s something I can do to reassure her.”

Rapunzel hummed against his neck before regretfully getting up. “Just don’t let on that I told you, okay? You know how she feels about admitting that she’s scared of anything.”

Eugene snorted. “I never used to think there was anything that could scare the Ice Dragon, herself.”

“Eugene—” Rapunzel said, exasperated.

“Okay, well maybe one thing.” he conceded with a smile. “Don’t worry. I won’t let on.”

“And don’t you dare tease her about being scared, either.”

_ “Moi?” _

“Yes, you.”

~ 

He didn’t find Cass. Halfway to her quarters, he got intercepted by a still rather bruised-looking Pete, who had gotten the unfortunate job of collecting all reports and interviews of the surviving bandits (Sans the one he had a very personal vendetta on.) and bringing Eugene the results to determine which ones would be joining the leader at the gallows, as King Frederic had ordered. 

Eugene swallowed down bile as he took the papers with trembling hands. He wanted for one wild moment to shove the whole pile at the king and let him deal with the mess, but he knew Frederic’s reaction to that would be unequivocal. All of the bandits would face the noose. The king had relaxed his strictures on petty crime, but with the confrontation in the throne room still fresh in his mind, he would not hesitate to condemn them all.

Sighing and forcing the nausea down, Eugene took the reports. He wished it was something he could put off— or even delegate, though he could not wish that grisly job on another— but he dared not. The king would want the report as soon as possible. 

He thanked Pete tonelessly and secluded himself in his office. Thanks to Cap, his desk was still remarkably clear of paperwork, so he couldn’t even distract himself with that. He didn’t want to condemn anyone to death, no matter what the king said. He had enough blood on his hands.

He bent over the papers for nearly two hours, separating the names of the bandits into two piles, those who had only participated in the theft of the goods— and those who had killed. He cross-referenced the reports to be sure, knowing some would sell out others of their ilk for a chance to escape the noose. Once upon a time, he might have done the same— only without the murder. He had been a thief— a con-man— a shyster— but never a killer, at least not until recently. He forcibly reminded himself that it had been to protect Cass and Rapunzel. It helped, if only a very little bit.

Ignoring the shaking of his hands, he dug in his desk drawers, looking for something he had never wanted to use so long as he lived, an execution order. Cap had used one while he was—  _ indisposed _ — for the execution of the surviving assassin. Eugene blinked hard, a visceral shudder going through him as he remembered the harsh snap of the rope suddenly pulled tight by the weight of a body. He had closed his eyes, but nothing could have prepared him for the sound.

He picked up a quill, but his hand was shaking too hard to actually write.

He actually yelped in surprise when his door opened, his hand upsetting the inkwell all over the blank order. Like black blood, it soaked into the paper and trailed over his desk. Ignoring the mess, he stared wide-eyed at Cap, framed in the doorway.

“Wha—?” He never even got the rest of the sentence out.

Cap strode across the room, grabbed a towel Eugene had never even realized was in the bottom drawer of the desk and efficiently mopped the spilled ink from the polished surface of the wood. He scraped the ruined paper into the wastebin and dumped the towel after it. Eugene could only blink numbly at the older man. “I—” he tried, but the words stuck in his throat.

Cap glanced down at the reports, and his face softened in sympathy. “I got this, lad,” he spoke in a tone that said all too well that he understood what was tearing Eugene apart. “As your advisor— at least for the nonce, I have the authority to sign the orders. You have a class to attend anyway.”

“Eh—?” Eugene managed, blinking eyes that stung with something that could only be relief.

“Her Majesty has decreed that you and my— your sister should join the princess in her lessons this evening. A first step, if you will, to—”

“One of us going to the Dark Kingdom,” Eugene finished with a grimace. He remembered with a pang that he had meant to talk to Cass, see if he could ease her hidden fear of being abandoned there. “I know, but—” He gestured at the reports. “The King—”

Cap glanced back at the door as if to make certain that it was shut. “— Is a man too reminded of his grief. He only sees the tragedy, and does not measure his intent.”

“I don’t understand.”

“When you have served this kingdom as long as I have, you learn a lot. The King— he weighs everything against that single sorrow, and far too often finds everything else— even other’s feelings— not immaterial, but not balanced against that one old, old grief. He does not see what his orders do to those who are bidden to carry them out.”

It ached, the laugh that forced past his lips. “You mean he doesn’t care.”

Cap blew air past his lips in a frustrated sound. “He cares, but his own hurt blinds him to how he hurts others if it is not pointed out to him.”

“I’m not keen to bring it up, sorry.” Eugene pushed himself back from the desk. “Let him go on ignoring what isn’t right in front of his eyes. So you said, I’m joining my family for classes. West wing, right?”

“Lad—”

“Right?”

Cap heaved a sigh, but apparently decided not to argue the point. “Yes. The old ballroom. I already let Cassandra know.”

“I’m sure she loved that.” Eugene raked a hand through his hair, ignoring how mussed that left it. “Look— I’m sorry for being— snappish, but thank you, really. I—” he shook his head. “It brings up things I’d really rather not think about. And lately, there’s a lot of those.”

Cap sighed again. “You’re welcome. Go on then.” He watched the door close behind Eugene with a pensive frown. He was beginning to understand his daughter’s concerns about him. He had taken too much upheaval in too short a time, and in spite of the lives he had saved, he would always be aware of the blood on his hands. Any remaining bitterness Cap might have had for his days as the most wanted thief in the Seven Kingdoms shriveled up and blew away like dust in the wind.

He turned his gaze to the reports, now spattered with drops of ink. At least  _ this _ he could spare him. 

~

It promised to be a very, very long evening. Cass knew it as soon as the door closed behind Eugene and the portly man who had taken the place of the unlamented Mme Lafleur, who was off to the country to soothe her delicate nerves. “While I do trust that you have all had some grounding in the basics, I fear my confidence in my predecessor is somewhat lacking, so I will set you all some tests to see what it is you know and what we must work on before you are fit for polite society.”

Cass made a very rude gesture at his turned back while Rapunzel just looked resigned. Eugene rolled his eyes, but they all put on polite, attentive faces when he turned back to put them through their paces on what they knew.

Cass knew the words, polite and stately, they dripped from her tongue like poisoned honey, though her very real desire to flee this little classroom flavored each nuance. She could greet a duke and a king alike, without a word wrong for them to take offense with, no matter her actual opinion. 

But she could not move like Rapunzel, all grace and tiny measured paces. Rapunzel flowed like water through the courtly paces of a political dance older than the kingdom. And if she did not have the words, she could glance over at Cass to see the former Lady-in-Waiting mouthing them, just like she helped her when all this princess stuff was new and Rapunzel was a bird trapped in a gilded cage. 

So she returned the favor and showed Cass the steps, the polite and graceful posturing that the other woman despaired of mastering. 

Eugene was an anomaly. He could mouth the empty platitudes, and naturally imitate the mannerisms, but he was not willing to bend to the weight of decorum today, making faces every time the instructor turned away and edging toward the window Rapunzel had been eyeing longingly. Cass had cracked it open when she and Rapunzel had first come in here, desperate for the breeze to blow away the quiet stuffiness of the room and the boring drone of the teacher's voice.

Cass shared a desperate look with Eugene as the man thumped down an enormous book full of rules of decorum. He caught Rapunzel's eye and his own eyes darted toward the casement. Torn, she only hesitated for a moment before giving him the slightest nod. 

Eugene flung the window entirely open with a bang and tipped the tutor a mocking salute before handing Rapunzel through the window and to the balcony a floor below. Grinning sharply, Cass was next out and then— with another bright grin at the flummoxed tutor, Eugene followed them down, laughter ringing behind them as they made their escape.

Rapunzel giggled as they fled for the gardens. “Dad is going to be furious with us.”

“Let him,” Eugene retorted. “I’m not about to be schooled by someone who thinks we’re not ‘fit for polite society.’ Polite society isn’t fit for us— in my humble opinion.”

Cass snorted a laugh as she led them under a trellis to a little nook she used to use to hide in when she was a child. It was a little more crowded with three adults, but it was still a quiet place to stay out of sight for a few minutes. “You? Humble?”

“Exceedingly, Sister Slashy.”

“What are we going to do?” Rapunzel leaned against Eugene's shoulder. “The tutor is surely going to stir up the guards.”

Cass gave her a wry smile. “Did you forget who you’re with, Raps? I know every place there is to avoid the guards, and well—” she waved her hand vaguely in Eugene's direction. “He used to make a career out of running circles around patrols.” 

“Hilarious, Dragon Lady— if also true.”

“We can get away, but after that?” Cass rolled her shoulder in a shrug. “Where do you want to go? They’ll find us in town easily enough, and It would be hard to sneak the horses out.” she raised a finger before Eugene could open his mouth. “Hard, not impossible. Max can get out on his own recognizance, and Fidella with him, but the guards are sure to follow them, to see if they’ll lead them to us.”

“I didn’t have a plan, I just could see how much the two of you wanted to escape, and honestly, I’m getting really tired of boring lessons. History, I like. Statecraft is not boring at all, but Decorum... ugh.”

“You hated it the moment the first tutor tried to make you wear heels.” Cass elbowed her.

“Not a lie.” Rapunzel leaned back on her hands. “What do we want to do now? We’ll need a good place to stay out of sight for a while.”

Cass chewed on her bottom lip, thinking hard for a long moment. They had stirred up a hornet’s nest with so many escapades of late. But she knew one place, but it would mean— “I know someplace we can go where we won’t be bothered—” She turned her attention to Rapunzel and held her leaf-green gaze for long moments.

She could see the dawning awareness in her face, and Rapunzel shot an uncertain look at her husband before looking back. “Are you sure— it’s always been—” she nibbled nervously on her thumbnail.

Cass knew what she meant. It had always been  _ their _ secret from the early days of their tumultuous friendship, and one Rapunzel had never shared with Eugene— a promise she had never broken.

But now— Sucking in a deep breath, she nodded.

“Should I have a clue what you two are talking about?” Eugene tilted his head, a lock of his disheveled hair tumbling over his eyes.

Rapunzel turned to offer him a beaming smile, reaching up to comb the stray hair back from his face with her fingers. “You’ll see. It’s a secret.”

Cass peered out of their hiding place. “Coast is clear. There’s an entrance to the tunnels just behind that statue. Let’s go.”

She slipped out of hiding, trusting in them to follow her lead. They reached the entrance unseen, and Cass pulled aside the ivy-covered grate, ushering them ahead of her and pulling it firmly back into place behind them. In the dim light filtering through the greenery, she found the lantern she had left here in her previous explorations and lit it. She grinned at Rapunzel. “This feels like old times.”

Rapunzel stifled a giggle and they hurried down the old tunnels, Eugene half a pace behind.

Cass bumped her shoulder lightly into Rapunzel’s. “I’m a little surprised you didn’t tell him. I know you can’t lie to him— never could.”

“It’s not a lie if he never asked the right question,” Rapunzel shot back with an impish smile.

“I am right  _ here, _ y’know,” Eugene complained sourly.

Cass chuckled while Rapunzel simply reached back to lace her fingers through his.

They emerged from the tunnels under a thickly shrouded overhang very near the water. There was a boat right where Cass had beached it, years ago. There was a little moss on the hull, but it didn’t leak when she shoved it into the gentle surf.

Stepping into the boat, she offered a hand to Rapunzel. Giggling, Rapunzel took it and stepped lightly as a deer into the rocking ship. Cass grinned and shoved an oar at Eugene. “Make yourself useful.”

He huffed indignantly at her, but willingly put his back into pushing them out into the water.

They made landfall at a little cove, hidden between a partially crumbled seawall and a outcropping of rock. Cass hopped out and with Rapunzel’s aid, pulled the little boat up on the sand, while Eugene stowed the oars above the waterline.

Now Rapunzel took the lead, bare feet flying over sand and seagrass as she pelted toward the forest, delighted laughter trailing behind her. 

“C’mon, pretty boy— she will leave us behind like this.” Cass tossed over her shoulder to Eugene as she rushed to catch up, Eugene managing to keep pace with her after a few moments. 

He eyed his wife’s back speculatively. “Where is it we’re headed that makes her this happy?”

“Tell you when we get there.”

The trail that used to take them hours in the dark fairly flew by and before long Rapunzel screeched to a breathless halt before a familiar boulder. Cass waved Eugene ahead of her, and let Rapunzel show him the secret way, chuckling under her breath at his indignant yelp as his boots splashed down into the water. Cass pulled her own boots off and followed. The water was cold, with autumn fast turning towards winter, but she splashed through quickly, emerging into the lagoon, brightly lit by the sun. Some of the tension in her melted away.

“Welcome to the Lost Lagoon,” Cassandra said quietly.

Eugene turned to her, eyes wide. “You mean it’s real? The book about it Rapunzel showed me claimed it was a myth.”

“It’s real, love. Cass and I found it. It’s always been our secret.” Rapunzel went up on her toes to kiss his cheek. “And now it’s yours too.”

“Whoa.”

They spent the rest of the evening in the quiet peace, Rapunzel delighting in showing Eugene the secrets of the lagoon, while Cass sprawled on the grass, soaking in the sunlight. Eventually, they both joined her in relaxing in the warmth. After a while Cass stood and worked her way through a series of careful exercises, trying to limber up the stiff muscles around her healing injury. Rapunzel watched her for a few minutes before bouncing to her feet and pulling her dagger. “Show me those moves again. I want to get them right.”

Cass chuckled. “Show me what you remember and we’ll work on what you’ve forgotten.” 

Rapunzel fell into a firm stance, bare toes curling in the grass. One good thing about her hatred for wearing shoes was a better sense of where her feet were and a more solid stance. 

Cass watched carefully as Rapunzel went through the moves that she remembered, correcting her when she faltered and coaching her through the one she had forgotten. “Good. Now, I’m going to demonstrate a counter, and show you how to do it. Then we’ll practice it. Fitzherbert, come over here for a second.”

Grumbling, Eugene pushed himself out of a nest of sun-warmed grass and stood in front of Cass. “One of the things someone coming at you when all you have is a dagger or any shorter blade is going to try to do is hope their reach is longer than yours, so they can slice you without you being able to retaliate. So what you want to do is rob them of that advantage. Eugene has a longer reach than me, and basically so will anyone taller than you.” She planted herself facing Eugene, and tossed him one of her many daggers.

He caught it neatly out of the air and dropped into a ready stance, devil-may-care expression falling into place on his face. “Let’s dance, Sister Serpent.”

Cass rolled her eyes. “Okay, so he has the advantage and he knows it. He can press the attack and because my reach is shorter than his, I can’t hit anything vital, while he can still cut me to pieces. How can I hit him?”

Rapunzel chewed on her bottom lip. “Throw your knife at him?”

“Never throw away your only weapon in a fight, Raps, especially if you can’t be sure of a hit. Now, if like me, you have hidden knives and a deadly aim, this fight would be over before it began, but your best trick is knowing how to get inside his reach. It’s dangerous, but it can be the best way to end things quickly." She gestured with the hand not holding her belt knife at Eugene. “Come at me, Pretty Boy.”

Eugene was good, making his move before she had even finished speaking. 

Cass slid her foot back and spun away from the lunge, forcing him to overextend. She finished her spin with her free hand shoving his knife arm up and her blade stopping just short of stomach. She grinned up at his shocked expression. “Now you’re a dead man. Fight over.”

“Nice move!” Eugene offered with a slightly lop-sided grin.

Rapunzel nodded and took up position in front of him. “Show me!”

Cass coached her through the move, showing her how to put her weight on her rear foot, and flow into the spin, bringing her hand up to force Eugene’s knife hand up. They ran through it several times, much more slowly than Cass’s lightning fast counter. Rapunzel’s speed and confidence increased with every repetition, until Cass nodded at Eugene and his next attack was at full speed. Rapunzel moved automatically to block and strike, though she didn’t put killing force behind her hit. Eugene was ready though, and took a step back so she did no more than poke his tunic with the point of the knife.

Cass shook her head. “Raps, you  _ have _ to stop pulling your hits. He and I both know how to counter, and frankly, if you actually have to use this move, you have to strike to kill, because this puts you in easy reach.”

On cue, Eugene grabbed her wrist and yanked her into him, causing her to drop the knife. He spun her into a loose chokehold, one hand pinned behind her back. She scowled indignantly up at him until he released her.

Cass used the toe of her boot to flip the knife up and caught it out of the air, handing it back to Rapunzel. “Now, try it again, against me— and  _ don’t _ pull your strike.”

“But, you’re still hurt!” There was clear worry in Rapunzel’s tone.

“I can handle myself. Now, like you mean it!” Cass lunged for her on ‘mean.’

Rapunzel yelped, but her reactions were true and she slammed Cass’s knife hand up and thrust.

Cass twisted aside, managing to barely avoid the blade. “Good! Much better! One more time against Eugene, and remember not to pull your blow.”

Rapunzel performed the move again perfectly, forcing Eugene to dance aside to avoid her strike.

“Good!” Cass applauded. “We’ll practice more the next time we do knife training, until it’s muscle memory. But let’s take a break now. We need to get back soon, and I don’t want to look like I’ve been in a knife fight when we do.” She knelt at the side of the lagoon, splashing water up onto her face. Rapunzel dodged and feinted with an imaginary opponent a few more times before coming to join her at the water’s edge, sheathing her dagger. “So I’m getting better?”

Cass looked up in time to get a faceful of water, splashed at her by the princess. “Ack! Dammit, Raps!” She shoved dripping curls away from her face and glared at a giggling Rapunzel. “Yes, you are. With a little more training, you should be able to hold your own in a knife fight. You’re still better with a frying pan, and honestly, I’m thinking of getting you a Neserdnian battle whip. You could probably learn to use that easily, considering—” She gestured at the back of Rapunzel's neck, who reached up to self-consciously touch her short-cropped brown hair. 

“I think I’d like that.” Rapunzel mused. “Hey, if I learn the knife and the whip, think I can go with you as your Heir’s Knight in the Dark Kingdom when you have to take your turn there? That way we could spend more time together!” she said brightly.

“One— Raps, there is no way in all the hells I would have the crown princess of Corona as my guard. No offense but I’m still a better fighter than you and your parents would kill me if I let anything happen to you— like get in a fight. Two— it doesn’t work that way. Even as— as a princess, I wouldn’t have the authority to knight you.”

“Sunshine, this might be the only time you hear me say this— but I think Cass is right.” Eugene had flopped down on the grass right where they had been sparring, only turning his head to talk.

The glare Rapunzel shot her husband should have melted him on the spot. “Not helping.” She turned back to Cass. “Who would have the authority to knight me, then?”

Cass shook her head. “The reigning monarch is the only one with the authority to elevate someone to the position of Heir’s Knight. But I wouldn’t agree to it. You could get seriously hurt, Raps. And your father— the king would never let you go with me.”

Rapunzel scowled at her, but could not refute her. She knew the king well enough to know that Cass was telling the truth.

“Ladies— while this is all a fascinating discussion of hypotheticals, can we table it and just enjoy the last moment of peace we’re likely to have for a while.” Eugene asked plaintively. He looked tired enough that Rapunzel dropped the matter to go sit next to him in the grass.

They remained there until the sun was westering, simply enjoying this tiny slice of peace. 

Eugene lingered behind as Rapunzel led the way out. “Hey, Cass— thank you for trusting me with this place.” 

It had been surprisingly easy to share what had been a deeply personal secret between her and Rapunzel, a place that even at her worst moments while holding the Moonstone, had been sacrosanct. She wasn’t quite sure what to think of the feeling, so she only nodded in return. 

The return to Corona was slower than the trip out had been. Cass led the way back into the tunnels when they hit the shore. She smirked, lighting a second lantern and passing it to Eugene. “Let’s confuse the trail a little bit more. Eugene, take the right tunnel, take two right turns and follow that last turn all the way. It dead-ends behind the fireplace in the library. There’s a lever on the left side that will open it. Raps, you and I will take the servant’s stairs to your rooms. With a little luck we can get changed and show up at Evening court like we were never even gone.”

“Sneaky. I like it. I take it you want me to claim to have been in the library since we escaped.” 

“If you like, or just make sure you’re seen there, deep in a book.”

Eugene grinned and headed off on his way. 

Rapunzel took Cass’s hand. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“You know what, Cass. I don’t know if he really understood what that place means to us, but—”

“For all that I call him a dumbass, he’s not actually that dumb. He understood.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a long time in coming, but the next chapter is what has been fondly referred to as a "Season Finale" chapter. While the story is far from over, it marks the ending of one arc and the beginning of an entirely new one, and one that we hope you enjoy as much as we enjoyed plotting it.
> 
> Next Chapter: One blow too many. Justice is served. Words are had. Rash does not equate to stupid. Everyone needs a breather.


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